Chicken Nature or Homicidal Hen?

[Clov3r]

Expecting a critter to 'act sick' before thinking it might be a rabies carrier is NOT SMART!  I'm happy to have wild critters out there, but not in my barn, and if it's around our animals, it's done for.  All my dogs, cats, horses, and cattle are vaccinated against rabies, and so am I.  Not a nice disease, and nothing to mess with.  In Michigan, bats are our major risk species, but many other animals can be positive, so we are careful.  Sorry about the rant!  Mary

No worries. To each their own. Because of the way rabies virus travels through the body, there's a relatively small window during which the virus can be transmitted via a bite and you not be able to see neurological symptoms. But with issues like dogs getting after them, I totally understand being overly cautious. Thats why states require an automatic quarantine of dogs or cats that break the skin on a person... theres good reason to be cautious. You can also keep an eye out for whether there have been recent confirmed cases in your area.

It's definitely no joke, and I'm not here to tell you to make buddies with all of your neighborhood skunks or anything. Haha. But, we get enormous numbers of calls from citizens who are convinced every sighted raccoon is rabid... there's a good balance in there somewhere.

 

[Clov3r]

Family friends of ours had to go through the rabies series (The kids were in 4th grade, 1st grade and preschool) after a skunk attacked a family of barn kittens and the kids rescued the babies - they were exposed to the blood and saliva on the kittens. They didn't think that was too threatening, but a couple of days later the daughter saw a skunk walking around in circles in a shed. Dad killed it, took it to get tested, and sure enough it was rabid. Then they were told by CDC that they had to test their cats, and had to euthanize all their pets. Yes, I know - vaccination of the animals may have prevented that, but sometimes farm cats are hard to bring in. We can't vaccinate our own animals. And the only vet in the area insisted on a "well animal check" for $50/ per animal - that gets expensive when you're bringing in multiple animals. 

My dog and cat are vaccinated. We live on a farm and the dog is pretty territorial. He's killed a couple of raccoons this year and multiple squirrels. He'll take on anything on his turf. 

Man, that stinks. Talk about your worst case scenarios.

 

[bobbi-j]

No worries. To each their own. Because of the way rabies virus travels through the body, there's a relatively small window during which the virus can be transmitted via a bite and you not be able to see neurological symptoms. But with issues like dogs getting after them, I totally understand being overly cautious. Thats why states require an automatic quarantine of dogs or cats that break the skin on a person... theres good reason to be cautious. You can also keep an eye out for whether there have been recent confirmed cases in your area.

It's definitely no joke, and I'm not here to tell you to make buddies with all of your neighborhood skunks or anything. Haha. But, we get enormous numbers of calls from citizens who are convinced every sighted raccoon is rabid... there's a good balance in there somewhere.

Oh for sure! We don't go into a dither because we see a raccoon during the day. They're out there - especially in the spring when they have babies that need feeding. It's just skunks that don't get a free pass here. Raccoons are eliminated if they go near where my chickens are.

 

[NysiaAnera]

Skunks are everywhere out here. It is difficult to drive down the road without smelling one someone ran over or shot. Just in the past 3 months, our immediate neighbors each have killed 8-9 each. On the one hand it is sad, but on the other hand I would rather have them dead than getting to our chickens or spraying our other animals, or getting ripped to shreads by our dogs (we have 6 of them, and they are not kind to intruding critters). The vet here also charges a wellness check for vaccinations, though it is a liile less, it is still way too pricy when there are multiple animals needing vaccines (dogs, cats, goats, etc).

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Glad you got the creature.

Quote:

Oh, I am so glad you got the culprit (and would be culprit)! Sorry about the smell though.

I agree with both but I also have a pet peeve and a rant.

It is the way in similar threads that the OP (victim of a predator attack) and those that respond refer to the culprit in the singular.
THE creature, THE culprit, THE weasel, THE skunk, THE raccoon, THE fox.
These creatures don't emerge out of a vacuum. They have parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, 2nd cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces. They're out there in the dark, in the brush, on your neighbor's property, on the farm next door. They have large territories and whether you see them or not, you have predators afoot.
If you have one raccoon, one fox, one skunk, one weasel - guess what - you have dozens or even hundreds. They just haven't taken up residence and become predators of your animals YET!

Oh for sure! We don't go into a dither because we see a raccoon during the day. They're out there - especially in the spring when they have babies that need feeding. It's just skunks that don't get a free pass here. Raccoons are eliminated if they go near where my chickens are.

Raccoons don't get a pass here either. Since MO and MN are not part of their historical range, I don't have a problem eliminating them.
Prior to Europeans' arrival, raccoons were confined to river bottoms in the Southeast.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Very well said, CC...

Don't let your vigilance down and keep setting traps up... where there's one, there is more... and word of your delicious all-you-can-eat chicken buffet will spread...

And I'd still make a fully secure enclosure for the young ones til they join the adults...

 

[aart]

It is the way in similar threads that the OP (victim of a predator attack) and those that respond refer to the culprit in the singular.
THE creature, THE culprit, THE weasel, THE skunk, THE raccoon, THE fox.
These creatures don't emerge out of a vacuum. They have parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, 2nd cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces. They're out there in the dark, in the brush, on your neighbor's property, on the farm next door. They have large territories and whether you see them or not, you have predators afoot.
If you have one raccoon, one fox, one skunk, one weasel - guess what - you have dozens or even hundreds. They just haven't taken up residence and become predators of your animals YET!

Ditto Dat^^...was thinking the same thing.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm going back to Clov3r's post, again. Rabies virus is in the saliva of many species well before that animal shows symptoms! The time varies, and that's why 'healthy' critters can be contagious. Mary

 

[AllynTal]

..... We can't vaccinate our own animals. And the only vet in the area insisted on a "well animal check" for $50/ per animal - that gets expensive when you're bringing in multiple animals. ...

Just as an aside note, folks might want to check with their local humane society to see if they offer low-cost rabies shots. Our humane society has rabies clinics once a year offering rabies shots and microchips for $12 for dogs (I don't know the rate for cats). I think it's $7 for the shot and $5 for the chip.

 

[Clov3r]

Just as an aside note, folks might want to check with their local humane society to see if they offer low-cost rabies shots. Our humane society has rabies clinics once a year offering rabies shots and microchips for $12 for dogs (I don't know the rate for cats). I think it's $7 for the shot and $5 for the chip.

Oh definitely. We usually recommend an organization here in DFW that'll do $5 for at least dogs and cats. Can't very well beat that.