Posted on 06/12/2011 8:22:17 PM PDT by george76
Pinal County Public Health is issuing a rabies advisory and urging Pinal County residents to have their animals vaccinated against the fatal disease. Last month, a Mammoth-San Manuel area man was startled awake by something pawing at his face. It turned out to be a stealthy skunk that had entered the man’s home through his dog door.
He was able to get the skunk outside where he killed it with a shovel. The skunk tested positive for rabies, a fatal disease that can be transmitted to humans and other animals through contact with bodily fluids.
“Although this situation may paint an amusing picture, the outcome is far from amusing,” Pinal County Public Health Director Tom Schryer explained. “The gentleman will have to undergo a series of vaccinations to prevent the rabies infection and, if he cannot prove that his family pets are current on their vaccinations, they will be quarantined or euthanized.”
Rabies is basically 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear and that is a risk we cannot afford to take with people’s lives. A simple shot would both prevent rabies in your pet and keep us from having to euthanize animals that are exposed,” Schryer said.
This is the fourth rabid animal – all skunks – found in eastern Pinal County since the beginning of the year. The skunks were found in Oracle, Kearny and Mammoth within the past few months.
Rabies is an infectious disease that affects the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord of animals and humans. It is caused by a virus present in the saliva of infected animals and is transmitted to humans through contact with the live virus. Rabies is fatal to humans once symptoms appear.
(Excerpt) Read more at trivalleycentral.com ...
>>“Although this situation may paint an amusing picture, the outcome is far from amusing,”<<
Yikes! That isn’t amusing at all. We want to think of skunks as Pepe le Pew, but they are basically feral creatures. A rabid skunk means one that is a little loco and won’t be frightened by human activity.
I really feel for this guy — he has an ordeal yet to be experienced.
I sympathize with this guy, too. But the rabies series isn’t really that bad. I’ve undergone the vaccinations, and so has all my family. It is not the shots into the stomach. We received them in our arms.
To me, it is more horrifying to wake up and find a wild animal munching on me. Also, nothing is 100%, I think. The concern that the vaccine won’t work is much worse than the actual shots.
A heckofa price to pay for having a doggie door, people should wise up and let their pets in and out.
We’ve always thought that way jaz. Never would consider a doggie door out here in the sticks.
Had a trap set for squirrels a month or so ago, and forgot to pick it up when I was out feeding the Horses that evening. It had no Squirrels, and I didn’t want the inevitable Possum to contend with, but forgot, and went down to the house for the night.
I remembered the next morning, and as I went to feed the Horses, and the Donkey again, I noticed something in the trap. Wasn’t Possum this time. Was 6 Skunks.
End of story as the rest of it isn’t for tellin’, but we don’t have doggie doors for a reason.
Supposedly, you can get rabies by just going into a cave that has rabid bats.
That reminds me. When I was about 11-12 I woke up with a strange cat having its mouth covering my nose. No one even thought of the possibility of it having rabies. Thank the Lord it must not have because I am still here.
Skunk stew?
I hear you.
Before moving here we lived in a very rural part of So OR. Anyone having a doggie door would not only be an idiot but would have been laughed out of the country by neighbors.
You name the critter and they were around but skunks were the worst. At times the odor would get so bad in the house at night with even the windows closed it was overwhelming and they weren’t under the house, they’d just shot off near the place.
Even in the city we live in now there’s critters and no way would we have a doggie door.
>>Supposedly, you can get rabies by just going into a cave that has rabid bats.<<
Rabies is easily transmitted across and within species.
I did a spelunking tour in Mexico a few weeks back — it was interesting there were so few bats.
In Jamaica, OTOH, the caves seemed to host a LOT of bats. And the standard Jamaican “don’t worry, mon” didn’t do much to make me feel like I shouldn’t worry (mon)...
>>Skunk stew?<<’
Stunk skew? ;)
No! Like I said no one even thought of the possibility of rabies.
I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stop laughing when I read your initial post. The way it was was worded sounded like, at your house, waking up with a strange cat on your face was nothing out of the ordinary.
Many city people have no clue.
Mountain lions made the news for the second time in a week with reports of a home invasion and dog-snatching by a crafty Colorado-based mountain lion...a mountain lion crept into a home outside Denver while its occupants slept, snatched the pet dog, and left the dog’s carcass outside...
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/934705/mountain_lion_invades_home_mauls_dog.html?cat=8
Mountain lion enters home in Salida, kills dog...The incident began just after 4 p.m., when the lion chased a small dog through a pet door into the home
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20100305/NEWS/100309679/-1/rss
Some pet doors require an identification collar tag to unlatch themselves for an animal.
A young lady in Wisconsin is the first (only, at last count) person, who was not vaaccinated, to survive rabies. She was in a medically induced coma for a long time and had to relearn everything (speech, walking, etc) when she awoke. She’s done well and went on to graduate from high school and is attending college. She wants to study animal behavior.
Back story: she loved animals and picked up a bat she found in her church and released it outside. She didn’t know the bat was rabid. Either it scratched her, or she had an open would on her hand. In any case, she already had rabies before she ever thought about it again, and it was too late to get the shots. I hope the 8 year old in CA survives.
Heard another mountain lion on Tuesday night while camped at 8400 ft in the Spring Mountains. This one wasn't doing the "young woman screams" but instead was doing the more common caterwauling. Probably male but who knows. Only about 100 meters away, but the sound traveled well through the mountain mahogany.
I'm beginning to think there are a LOT more big cats here than I thought.
Oh, saw a female elk in the Spring Mountains about 4 days prior at only 6200 feet in a blackbrush/JT/PJ habitat. Or as a big cat might say: Dinner on the hoof!
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