I went to bed early Wednesday and was fast asleep when my Daughter runs into my room at 11PM crying and saying that our outside cat is getting attacked by a raccoon. It's about 20 degrees out and I ran out the door in my underwear with my 9mm Ruger P95 in my hand. Sure enough a 30 pound raccoon is just pinning the cat and about to finish it off. It was dark out, I didn't think to put my glasses on before I ran out and the cat and raccoon are about the same color. At this point they are looking very similar to my sleep blurred eyes so I had to be real careful not to hit the cat. My Daughter would never forgive me for that. I took one shot and put the raccoon right down. The cat had an injured leg from the attack, but is otherwise okay. First time I have ever heard of a raccoon attacking a cat!
Now for the good part, I was using CorBon hollow points in the 9mm and it penetrated the raccoon completely, it just fell out of the fur on the off side and the once .355" bullet now measured .650". Nice mushroom, good job CorBon!!!
Don

EXCELLENT JOB .Im sure your cat will be fine and making you wish you had aimed a bit lower soon...

Now I've been told repeatedly that the 9mm is totally underpowered for any type of defensive shooting. It also overpenetrates AND can be stopped by a light jacket...

Nice shot!

Good shooting BB. I didn't realise them cuddly looking little buggers were even remotely vicious.

Oh well mate...looks like ya got yerself the makin's of a new hat.

The humble 9mm is not a round to be underestimated. Like all rounds it can have its good days and its bad days...but overall...I wouldn't like to be hit by one.

Cheers, Vince

Real good shooting BB! Did you have night sights? Did you wake the neighbors up?

slimjim wrote:

Real good shooting BB! Did you have night sights? Did you wake the neighbors up?

Didn't have night sights and without my glasses it wouldn't matter much if I did. I didn't use the sights and just pointed the gun. The neighbors are far enough away that they wouldn't hear it, especially in winter with their windows all closed up. Reports from guns are pretty common around here.
Don

My concern would be that the raccoon might have been rabid. Hope the cat had shots and no one handled that raccoon. All the best...
Gil

Gil,
I thought of that to. The cat had shots, but we're still keeping an eye on it. It lost two toes to the raccoon in the scrap.
We had a groundhog several years ago that attacked our dogs. They were in a fenced in pen with a concrete floor and this groundhog forced it's way under the gate and tried to get the dogs. They were able to avoid it long enough for me to get a .223 into it and put it down. We were told by the police that the state tests for rabies for free so we took it's body over to our vet, Highland Animal Hospital on Rt. 873 near you. They sent the head to Harrisburg and it turned up with rabies. Then we got a bill for shipping the head packed in dry ice and another to cremate the body because it had rabies. Once a year The Morning Call lists cases of rabies for the county and usually they have quite a few raccoons and skunks to. That year they listed one groundhog, ours!
Don

Several years back we had a rabid raccoon come into the yard. I was at work at the time and my wife called me to tell me something was attacking our dogs. The dogs (about 6 of them) finished him off but all required booster shots for rabies. Yet another good reason to go armed when walking around outside!

We don't have a rabies problem in Australia, so I suppose that it not something I think about. From what I know about rabies...very little...it is a very nasty disease.

Cheers, Vince

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

Yet another good reason to go armed when walking around outside!

As if coyotes and the two legged predators weren't enough reason, we need to worry about this too.
Don

Actually...I worry more about running into a skunk or raccoon with distemper
or else a meth cooker when I am out in the woods. I am almost always carrying a side arm when i am out there. Oh and the fact we have a cougars running these hills too makes me a touch nervous as well. But I am not really worried 'bout them cougars jumping me. More than likely they are sitting somewhere just watching me walk by. Fine by me!

But those meth cookers ... they can be a nasty little batch of boogers.

We have had quite a few reported coyote attacks lately. None in my neighborhood, but not too far away. Just before Christmas a woman was walking her dog a in a state park in New Jersey and the coyote went after her and her dog. She was lucky to be able to fight it off with the help of her dog. They both had some injuries as a result. A child would have had little chance against it.
Don

BigBlue wrote:

We have had quite a few reported coyote attacks lately. ... Christmas a woman was walking her dog a in a state park in New Jersey and the coyote went after her and her dog.

A similar scenario happened in Texas to Governor Perry. He pulled out his concealed carry pistol and corrected the situation.