Posted on 01/21/2018 4:02:28 AM PST by SandRat
WILLCOX — The coyote that charged a bow hunter in the Chiricahuas has tested positive for rabies.
The attack occurred at 6 p.m., Jan. 13, on a trail in Green Canyon, according Mark Hart, with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
“A hunter just down from a tree stand was charged by a coyote with teeth bared,” he told the Range News. “He struck it with his bow to fend off the attack, then shot the coyote with an arrow when it was down.”
Just prior to the attack, the coyote may have attacked a calf, “but was then rushed by other cattle in a nearby herd,” Hart said prior to the results, which were obtained Thursday morning. “That may be a simple explanation for the behavior, but we must always be cautious about the possibility of rabies in species other than the most common carriers – foxes, bats, and skunks.”
While the rabid coyote did not bite the hunter, he has been "advised of the results," Hart told the Range News.
After three separate incidents recently in Southern Arizona, Game and Fish issued a statement Jan. 17, urging the public to “avoid and promptly report” wildlife behaving erratically.
In addition to the Jan. 13 coyote attack in the Chiricahuas, a fox attack occurred Jan. 16 in Dudleyville, as well as what the agency called a “rare coyote bite” Jan. 15 on Tucson's west side.
“The latest attacks follow a Vail woman being bit Jan. 10 by a fox,” Hart said in his Jan. 17 statement. “Rabies is suspected in that case, but test results are pending.”
The Jan. 15 incident occurred off Bonita Avenue, in Tucson, when a woman sustained a coyote bite on her thigh while on a work break, resting in her car with the passenger door open.
While the wound was minor, rabies treatment was required, Hart said.
The coyote was found Wednesday, Jan. 17, in the same area and humanely euthanized, he said.
Bites were not involved in the coyote attack in Green Canyon nor the fox attack near the Arizona Trail in Dudleyville, Hart said.
“In both cases, victims fought back, with the fox being kicked away and probably killed later about a mile away, and the coyote being struck and killed on scene,” he said.
Pinal County recently confirmed that a fox recovered Jan. 8 in Kearny was rabid, Hart said.
“Avoid contact with and don’t approach wildlife that is behaving abnormally or appears to be ill,” Regional Supervisor Raul Vega, with Game and Fish in Tucson, said, adding, “avoid touching any dead wildlife that you may find, and keep your pets away from them, as well.”
If you believe that you see a rabid animal, call Game and Fish at 1-623-236-7201 immediately, he said.
“Pets, such as dogs and cats, as well as livestock, like horses, should be regularly vaccinated for rabies,” Vega said in the Jan. 17 statement. “In addition, dogs should be on leashes when outdoors, and a veterinarian consulted if any domestic animals are injured by wildlife. Unvaccinated animals exposed to wildlife with rabies must undergo a four-month quarantine.”
Hart called rabies “a preventable viral disease, most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal.”
“The rabies virus attacks the central nervous system, causing encephalitis (swelling of the brain). It is almost always fatal once symptoms appear,” he said. “Rabies can be prevented in persons who have come into contact or have been bitten by wild animals through prompt administration of anti-rabies vaccine and rabies immune globulin.”
In Arizona, the principal rabies hosts are bats, skunks, and foxes, which carry their own distinct rabies virus variants or “strains,” Hart said.
“When rabies activity within these animal groups increases, rabies can 'spill over' into other mammal species, such as bobcats, coyotes, javelina, cats, dogs, horses, cows, etc.,” he said. “Rabid animals may appear disoriented or intoxicated, salivate heavily or appear thirsty.”
In Arizona, about 15 people are exposed to rabid animals every year, Hart said.
People who are exposed must receive vaccine and anti-rabies serum treatment to prevent infection.
Con-Yo! Right in his Chiricahuas - that musta hurt.
+1.....lol
lol
I just wonder what the animal rights lefties will have to say about this mean old hunter hitting the poor defenseless coyote and then killing the poor thing.
Don’t hunters know coyotes were here first? (that settles most arguments in the leftist mind)
Spread the word. People have gotten rabies by touching dead bats.
It’s going to get interesting. People don’t shoot predatory animals much any more. Some states won’t even allow a person to carry openly outdoors without a carry permit, and many neighbors are animal worshipers aching to cause trouble.
People have gotten rabies by *breathing the air* in bat infested caves.
Close enough to hit him with a bow means he had better get his rabies shot anyway. It is insanely communicable. Any spatter, saliva, blood or other fluid needs to be given the same attention as our deadliest chemical weapons.
Agreed. This is why I carry a side arm when bow hunting.
A bow or crossbow are not the most efficient weapon for self defense.
Regards.
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