Rabid Raccoon - buried it today

[drdoolittle]

It's really strange that Animal Control wouldn't come out. There was a raccoon acting strange in my driveway one afternoon several years ago, and when I called about it, AC sent someone pretty quickly. I don't think it was rabies-----the raccoon had patches of hair missing, wobbling around, trying to eat sticks and bark, and not afraid of people. The AC officer said they had been picking up quite a few like that. Maybe they wouldn't come because you're out in the country? My experience was when I lived in city limits, and I also had told them that I was afraid when the kids got off the bus they would think they could pet the raccoon and get bit----that probably helped.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Some years ago I had the rabies series; fortunately, it was the newer improveder version, an initial dose of immune globulin inserted all around the wound, followed by a series of injections into the arm that left me feeling like a truck had hit me for weeks. I still think I suffer some permanent side effects from it.

Rabies is no joke.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
coon share a number of diseases that dogs and cats can have plus parasites that can put them in really bad shape all the ones I handle I use rubber gloves of some sort , the being out in the daytime does not bother me the nocturnal thing is kina a urban legend it is more about when there are no humans around and anymore the way houses are being stacked on top of each other and in places that only wildlife lived before . Here there was a series of drainage ditches/canals from where a farm used to be so when they built houses there the folks who moved in have problems with nutria rat ( coypu ) LOL imagine that

 

[shellybean40]

I also think that could have been distemper.

 

[NanaLantana]

I suppose it may have been distemper, we did not get the chance to test its brain. As for shooting it, we didn't have a gun! I never let my husband get one when we were raising 4 boys - he wouldn't have spent time teaching them about it, and I was afraid they'd find it and shoot each other. But I'm still uncomfortable that this happened on my property, and I had to bury it. What if there are those cootie germs hanging around? What about my cats, dogs, grandkids that come over?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I too live in Palm Beach County, FL. There are raccoons in every part of the county, from the heavily-developed to the rural, and can be seen at any time of the day. In the wild they are nocturnal, but in areas where they can find food safely during the daytimes they'll venture out then. Our county ACC stays busy with everyone's unwanted dogs & cats, in addition to the many calls they get from folks (not YOU) crying "Eek! There's a raccoon/opossum/snake/squirrel/rabbit/spider in my yard, come out and take it away!" Let's hope that the staffer you spoke to clearly heard & understood you when you described the alarming symptoms & behavior of this particular raccoon and was correct in their determination that it posed no threat.

Did you just wait until the raccoon died on its own and then buried it? Or did you "help" it? I think you should make a few more calls today to answer your remaining questions. Try ACC again, also try the County Extension office, your veterinarian, and Busch Wildlife. I don't know what the symptoms of rabies looks like, but I think there are other things that can affect them to make them act like that.

Please let us know what you find out!

 

[panner123]

Quote:
YOU HIT THE NAIL RIGHT ON THE HEAD. I would dig it up and take it to the animal control office or burn it. That way you know the germs are no longer on your property. Then pour gallons of bleach on the area where you had it buried. Maybe even some gas and set it on fire the kill the germs. This is one time NOT to worry about being organic, those germs can kill YOU.

 

[dewey]

In my state it's Game & Fish that handles suspicious wildlife calls.

 

[key west chick]

Rabis virus can not live outside its host. It would be very, very unlikely that any of the rabis virus would still be alive by now, if thats in fact what it was. This also is try of the distemper virus.

 

[NanaJune]

Quote:
The Rabies virus dies outside the host. We had a rabid skunk get in our chicken coop and chase and bite several of our chickens. I FREAKED OUT! My husband got the gun and shot it INSIDE my hen house. I then FREAKED OUT again! I was thinking of all of the Rabies germs in the blood that went everywhere and that my chickens were exposed, too. When Animal Control came out, he told us to just bag and bury the body and wash down the blood. He said the virus dies as soon as the air hits it and/or it is outside the blood of the host. He also said that chickens' blood is too hot; that's why birds can't get Rabies. He said burying the body was safe and that no animals could get it even if they dug it up because the virus would be dead.

He also told us anytime you see a skunk or raccoon or nocturnal animal during the daylight hours acting strangely to avoid it and immediately call Animal Control. He told us that if he had not been available, that we should call the local police dept. That potentially rabid animals should always be report to local authorities. My confusion was that once he did come out, he did not do anything! He just watched us bag and bury the animal. He said he was reporting it as rabid because there was an epidemic in the county. He said they did not want to spend the money for testing because he was sure it was rabid.