Wayyyyy back in 1962, my younger sister caught a mouse that had been dropped by a neighbor’s cat. The mouse bit her, she dropped it and the cat grabbed it and took off with it. By the time the cat was cornered (behind a freezer in the garage) the mouse was gone. Whether it was eaten or escaped, we never knew. The authorities said bringing the cat in wasn’t going to help in determining if the mouse was rabid.
This all took place in
Due to the severity of disease and what was considered a real likelihood of the rodent having rabies, nobody was taking any chances. My three year old sister was subjected to rabies shots………if I remember correctly (I was only 8) she was taken to the
She would cry and scream so hard—the capillaries in her face and eyes would burst, making her look even more pitiful than she normally looked after crying.
It was a horrible time. I will never forget my mother getting up early to put the turkey in the oven and then take my sister for her shot, return home to complete the preparation of our Thanksgiving meal.
That experience and memory has kept me very wary of handling wild animals and I am adamant regarding the inoculation of our farm mammals. Some people don’t understand why I give rabies shots to the llama, alpacas, goats, and cats………..I tell them “I just do”. Most people around here don’t think it is necessary, but we have lots of foxes, squirrels, groundhogs, bats, raccoons, etc. We have at least one rabies diagnosis in the county every year……so, I would rather be safe than sorry.
Laura
Laura Roberts
R Half Pint Farm
From:
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11:05 AM
To:
Subject: [CHICKENS-101] Re: Skunks and Racoons
I too am a registered nurse as well as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and rabies vector species (RVS) are always a concern when coming in contact with them.
Before trapping animals, you should first check out who handles treatment for rabies exposure and have the necessary numbers to call at hand. When trapping RVS animals gloves should always be worn. If you are bitten, scratched or come in contact with saliva or blood from the animal in question, if possible, do not release it. Keeping the animal for testing may prevent you from having to undergo treatment should it prove to be negative for rabies. Immediately wash the area of contact with soap and water and apply an antiseptic.
Killing the animal is not necessary, animal control will pick up live, trapped animals. If you do decide to shoot the animal, don't shoot it in the head as that will destroy brain tissue for lab testing which is how rabies is determined. If you do kill the animal, use a chest shot and if necessary, wrap the animal well and put it in the fridge and not the freezer, freezing also destroys tissues for lab testing. Immediately call a local humane society for pickup or after hours, call 911 and request animal control services. You should then call the nearest E.R. or health department for further instructions. If the animal has escaped, it's imperative that you begin treatment asap.
Cats are the most frequent domestic animal presenting with rabies and care should be taken if trapping or handling feral or stray cats. Although any mammal can harbor the rabies virus, opossums seldom carry it as their body temperature is too low to support the virus. With the exception of ground hogs, rodents also seldom carry rabies because if they're bitten by larger mammals, they're typically killed and don't live long enough to become a carrier.
Depending on where you live, most RVS animals are as follows:
Skunks
Bats
Raccoons
Woodchuck (ground hog)
Fox
Sue
WLR
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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