Bob tail coons seem to be fairly common. My question is do they lose their tail in some way or are they born that way?

The most common school of thought, and what I believe is most common, is they are bitten/damaged/torn off or eventually fall off from rival males pulling them off breeding females. This time of year, with breeding in full swing you'll see a lot of them damaged or freshly docced. It's also how then boars get that grissley scarred up neck on the upper back that is so fun to scrape. I suppose a few are born that way as well, but I don't recall ever seeing a bobtailed sow coon, mostly all big boars.

Seems like it’s alway the big old boars for sure.

Boars usually not furred great and often times rubbed.

A high percentage of our big boars are bobbed, but like ADC said, I don't think I've ever seen a sow with a short tail. Some of the old timers said that they froze off in bad winters, but I never did quite believe it. I would tend to agree that it is related to breeding and fighting.

I had a big old boar on my cat line that was a nemesis that tailless butt on camera was a give away that it was him.

yup always big old boars sometimes a female or younger coon definitely from fighting during breeding season but probably fighting with coyotes too as the tail is a great place to grab as they run away

Every day you spend on earth is another day to get hurt. Ever see an old man’s hands?

Several times I've caught big ole boar coon that had enough damage on it's tail that it would loose it soon. IMO

when my daughter was 9 her first catch was a big old boar coon, without a tail, she will never forget and I won't either, she couldn't tell what it was because it did have a tail at all!!!

I guess that this would be just as good a time as any to ask who was it who got their "tail" caught in a 330 some years back. I don't recall whether he lost it or not.

Marty Harmon, funniest story ever posted on Trapperman.

I thi k they either freeze off ir the mamas chew em off like foxes will sometimes.

Th first coon i caught on my own didt have a tail at all. No bobtail just flat not there

They get injured from fighting and infection and they probably fall off do to this . I catch alot of bobs and usually old boars