Caught raccoon taking a dip. NO POOP

[caldog101]

Hi Everyone,

I am new owner and this is my first season so please go gentle and help me with some good advice. I went outside today and right when I went out I happened to go out and see a racoon jump in my pool for a dip. He swam to the other side as I ran for my hose to spray him to scare him and get him out. Once he saw me he quickly jumped out and ran away. He was in for maybe 20 seconds.

Tons of articles and posts about what to do IF they poop in the pool, but I checked and there was no poop . TRUST ME I checked EVERYWHERE! including skimmer baskets.

Can you please give me some advice? What do i need to do next? Add some shock? backwash? Run filter for 24hrs? Calm down cause I’m over reacting? Open to all thoughts.

Thank you

 

[DiverGirl1972]

If it were me, I'd probably bump up the chlorine a little bit and not worry too much about it.

 

[kellyfair]

Bummer that there are no photos!

You can bring your chlorine up to SLAM level for a day or two and run the filter for a few hours.

 

[caldog101]

Bummer that there are no photos!

You can bring your chlorine up to SLAM level for a day or two and run the filter for a few hours.

thank you both for your reply’s! You are making me feel much better.

I plan on adding chlorine and running filter longer than normal.

Here is the only photo I could get of him as he was running away once I scared him. I was so panicked when I saw him swimming I couldn’t think to take a pic of him in the pool. It actually looks ENORMOUS and I’m wondering now if it was a pregnant mother

 

[kellyfair]

Wow! I think it is somewhat unusual to see them in the daytime, isn’t it?

 

[caldog101]

Wow! I think it is somewhat unusual to see them in the daytime, isn’t it?

Called animal control and they said, it is a myth the raccoons out in daytime are rabid. They are often mothers out in search of food for babies or for themselves to provide for the extra nutrients needed for nursing.

If a raccoon looks dizzy, unsteady, or sick that is the time to worry.

 

[kellyfair]

Good news!

 

[revitup]

I have a hard time believing that any additional chlorine is needed if an animal takes a dip in the pool, raccoon or otherwise. That raccoon could have easily finished its dip and left without anyone being the wiser. Then what?

 

[Newdude]

Called animal control and they said, it is a myth the raccoons out in daytime are rabid. They are often mothers out in search of food for babies or for themselves to provide for the extra nutrients needed for nursing.

If a raccoon looks dizzy, unsteady, or sick that is the time to worry.

I'm glad to hear that unsick raccoons day trip also. The dozens i have ever seen were the drunk and dizzy ones. If he looked sober, im with @revitup. 2 minutes later and ignorance would be bliss. I happen to see a handful of birds poop in the pool each day. Only 5 happen and i was lucky to see each and every one. Phew.

 

[mguzzy]

Next time you see it, I would offer the raccoon a beer. Have a chat, they like to talk and are great fans of the Gaurdians of The Galaxy movies

 

[batesjer]

Do you or one of your neighbors have bird feeders or a food source that is attracting them? I only ask because if she's in your yard in the daytime its likely she's frequenting it and if a food source is attracting it eliminating it will encourage her to move on. We had a pack take out our feeder overnight and I wanted to make sure none of them did poop in our pool so we got rid of the feeder and they've moved on elsewhere for now.

 

[kellyfair]

I have a hard time believing that any additional chlorine is needed if an animal takes a dip in the pool, raccoon or otherwise. That raccoon could have easily finished its dip and left without anyone being the wiser. Then what?

It‘s an insurance policy. Probably not needed, but certainly won’t hurt.

 

[caldog101]

Update: it was caught by a neighbor two doors down! Turns out it was not rabid but was injured which was why it was out during the day. When they are injured their instinct is to go out during daytime because they are vulnerable to predators at night time

in regards to the swim in the pool he took. I ended up bringing my FC to 10.0
And did a very deep and thorough backwash of my de filter. Thanks again for advice everyone!