Michigan

[RBahmer]

Nova - Happy Birthday.

 

[teeville5]

Teeville, 6:30am is the middle of the night.

LOL. I had to work that morning or I wouldn't have been up until 7:15am when DH got home from work. Oh, wait, still middle of the night, right? So how about this morning then? My son went out at 10am to open up the coop and that darn raccoon was in there again. He didn't get it either.

Happy Birthday Nova and Uchytil

 

[Trefoil]

I cannot find where Olive got the idea that raccoons, or any other animal can be an actual "carrier" of rabies. According to everything I have been able to find, an animal must have rabies in order to be able to give it to another animal. If that is the criteria to be a carrier, then every animal is a carrier for every disease they are susecptable to. Which makes the term meaningless.

 

[Ferrret]

If I recall correctly, a carrier is an animal or person who can carry a disease but might not show symptoms of it. Typhoid Mary was a carrier of Typhoid Fever, she never experienced the fever herself, but she spread it to many people.
Raccoons do not always show symptoms of rabies that are seen in dogs or other animals, but may still be infected and could transmit the disease.
From a Purdue newsletter in 2003:
Quote: https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2003/summer/rabies.shtml
Rabies may take a while to show symptoms at all, and is not a fast killing disease, so an infected animal can carry it and spread it over a number of days, potentially even weeks, before succumbing to it.

If you do not want to kill raccoons that are on your property, that is your choice. Many people here make some kind of living off their chickens, selling eggs and/or meat, and raccoons can decimate a flock in an evening, so many here do their best to eradicate raccoons from their property to protect their livelihood. 'Just build a better coop' isn't always an effective bit of wisdom because raccoons are fairly intelligent and can figure out how to get into even a secure coop. That will also come out during the day, daytime hunting is not a sign of illness, but rather desperation. Hungry raccoons will hunt during the day, putting a flock at risk. Night hunting is easier, safer, but if there isn't enough food around at night, daytime foraging is the only other option.

 

[1muttsfan]

Good morning Michigan, the birds are singing and the roosters are crowing - another beautiful day.

Eradication is completely destroying a population - certainly not possible with raccoons, one of the best-adapted survivors in the animal world. If it sounds like I admire them, well, I do - along with coyotes,weasels and other predators. No matter how many you kill, there will ALWAYS be another one come along. If you choose to let your birds out unprotected, you are going to loose birds, no matter how many coons you kill.

 

[Opa]

 

[1muttsfan]

Happy 4th Opa and all - let freedom ring!

 

[Mom 2em All]

Swampducks and Olive might but Robin doesn't

Huey couldn't hear her as he was in air conditioning. LOL So sorry about your bunny. Hope he gets better by tomorrow.

Happy Fourth everyone!

Robin-
Im so happy for Huey!

 

[M.sue]

Happy 4Th of July Everyone......Proud to Be an American!!

Nice looking chickens.....wish I had one.....NOT!

MOM2....hope your bunny pulls through.

Not much going on in my chicken world. We enjoyed the rain we got yesterday........we really need more. Last night while the neighbors sat over yonder on their porch I pulled weeds in the garden while listening to country music on the radio and sipping on a wine cooler. Not everyone likes county music but my chickens and I do.

The chickens where in 7TH heaven digging & scratching around in there. Weather cooled off last night but it's already humid this morning.....gonna have to turn the AC on.

 

[M.sue]

Oh ya......Happy belated birthday guys.....Hope they were good ones!