WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF RABIES IN WILD ANIMALS?
It’s a myth that raccoons seen during daylight hours must be rabid. It is not unusual for healthy mother raccoons with hungry babies to search for extra food during the day, and raccoons can often be seen sunbathing in trees. Raccoons will forage for food along coastlines whenever low tide occurs. Only if a raccoon or other wild animal is acting strange or sick – convulsing, circling, appearing disoriented or partly paralyzed, showing signs of unprovoked aggression or uncharacteristic tameness – people should call their animal control officer or police. HOW IS RABIES TRANSMITTED? People have exaggerated fears about rabies. The reality is that the rabies virus is not airborne and cannot penetrate intact skin. You can only get rabies via a bite from a rabid animal or through scratches, abrasions, open wounds or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or brain tissue from a rabid animal. The rabies virus is short-lived when exposed to open air; thus the virus cannot survive in saliva th
