The raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis apparently infects a fair amount of raccoons. It sounds pretty scary when it happens to get into people but that seems to be rare. I would think this kind of thing would put a damper on the coon carcass market but from what I read on this site, the carcass market is alive and well in parts of the US. Any thoughts on this?

its been going for more than 40 yrs......u must cook meat well....heat kills it. Me,i dont eat coon anymore...boddicker taught us this in college 40 yrs ago

Yea freaks me out every year

Maybe because distemper has killed off a lot of my raccoon but it's been a long time since I've seen worms in a coons ankle. That's as far as I'm looking anyways.

Sniper, that's the guinea worm, not the coon roundworm. I haven't seen them as much for awhile either, I suspect since it has been so dry. The guinea worms are contracted from wading in streams. Mink and otter get them also.

Just had a skunk the other day with the guinea worms in the legs somehow a coon with or without worms does not sound any tastier to me either way! LOL I'd give them away if I could just to get rid of the carcasses. "Bona Petite"

I’ve seen more of the Guiana worms in otters more than coons.

Is this the guinea worms you guys are talking about? This was a mink from last year.

Pic isn't clear enough that I can say for sure, but I think that is it. If you grab the end of the worm, you can pull them out. They are usually in a loose roll, or cluster. Don't know exactly how to explain it, but under the membrane that lays just under the skin. You cannot mistake them! lol. pure white and like a piece of fine string, will stretch out six to ten inches long. Lots of time on coon, they will have a scabby sore on the outside of the skin, but you only see that down on the feet where the hairs are real short. They like to infest the joint area on coons.

I shot a bear about 15 years ago and when I cut it open, the guts was full of long white worms that looked like spaghetti. Rather disgusting!

This is what they look like when you open the package!

They d a study in Winnipeg because 1/2 the city was with dumpsters and the other half across the river was backlane can collections. The dumpster side had 80 percent infection of roundworm the other side was 30 percent infection
Children's Play boxes with sand was 100 percent infected with scat that was infected on both sides of the river.

Kids and sandboxes. Not good in coon country.

I’m a average citizen living in Virginia who had a possible encounter with raccoon poop. I’ve done enough internet research now that I have convinced myself that I tracked raccoon roundworm eggs into my house, and they are now everywhere, and I’m going to infect my whole family. Would anyone be willing to let me describe the situation as it happened to me and tell me if I’m overreacting or worried for nothing?

Lets hear it.

Last year I had an otter I was skinning and knicked the muscle around it's back foot and a bunch of stringy, white worms spilled out. I made a cut on the other leg in the same spot and worms spilled out of it too. I think about that from time to time. This thread clears that up for me.

Thank you. I appreciate your time. I might sound crazy, but please be kind to me.

I know you all have a lot of experience and have seen a lot, and I trust your perspective. I’ve been reading some posts and that’s why I joined this forum.

So, here goes…

I was at a playground with my son (age 5) on Saturday morning. The playground backs up to a wooded park area with a stream. I know that raccoons live in that park area.

While there, I saw two small piles of what looked like soft poop (kind of looked like dark brown pudding) — (1) one pile was on a rock and (2) one was either on the edge of the soft turf or right at the edge of the mulch near the sliding board area. (I can't remember specifically where it sat, but I know where it was.)

I was thinking about it a lot and decided it was raccoon poop that just happened to be soft and not tubular. (It didn’t seem like poop from a dog, especially since there was some on top of a rock.)

The two piles were spread out. One was on one side of the playground and one was on the other side.

As I said, they were more pudding-looking than formed feces. I suppose that could be due to the animal (again, raccoon?) having soft stool or rain. It had rained here in the week before but not a lot and maybe not in the 24 hours before I saw it. The temps are in the low to mid 80s during the day and mid 60s to low 70s at night.

I know about raccoon roundworm and I’m terrified of it. Here comes the part where I think I might have made a stupid mistake.

I went back to the playground Monday afternoon (2.5 days later) to get another look at the poop. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Just seeing it there a few days before had made me so scared.

I couldn’t find either of the piles of poop. The one on the rock was definitely gone and I couldn’t see the one they had been in the mulch area anywhere.

Now I’m terrified that I stepped where right where the pile in the mulch area used to be as I was looking for it (or maybe even was slightly in the wrong spot to begin with) and I
(1) got raccoon roundworm eggs on my shoes and/or
(2) that the eggs were airborne after being disturbed when they were picked up and some blew on my body or my clothes.

I walked to the car - a short distance - and got in without making sure I scrubbed my shoes in grass or something. I know the eggs are sticky, and maybe would have come off in grass if I had walked around before getting in my car.

I feel like I brought raccoon roundworm eggs into my house -- either on me or the bottoms of my shoes -- and I’m seriously terrified.

What I'm essentially freaking out about now is that I tracked raccoon roundworm eggs into the house on my shoes or body after my second visit to the playground -- and that now the microscopic worms are IN HERE and my little boy will get some on his hands and suck his thumb, eat something with his hands, etc.

The worms are microscopic. And you can't just vacuum them up. So I feel like I created a death trap for us here in this house.

The thing is…I didn’t see myself step in poop. I don’t KNOW that I stepped in it. I actually don’t think I did. But I’m not certain. I’m more scared that I stepped where the poop used to be and/or where it blew if it dried up and didn’t realize there was a tiny bit on my shoe.

Please give me your perspective on this scenario. How worried should I be?

I’m a super scared mom right now. Thank you for your time!

Strip off all your clothes and take a bath in bleach then burn your house.

Seriously you are over reacting.
Take a spray bottle with diluted bleachwater and spray down your shoes,floor of car or anywhere you think you may have tracked it.
Diluted bleach will kill it.

Your chances of contracting it or even getting sick from it are extremely low,but that should give you some peace of mind.

A little Ragu sauce will dress them right up, or if you prefer Chef Boyardee....

I have seen hundreds of these and we always called them ankle worms. No way I would eat a coon. seen lots worse than worms on a coon carcass as well. Eat at your own risk. LLL