Drought May Be Forcing Rabid Skunks Into Populated Areas

sacramento.cbslocal.com ^ | 3/21/2014 | Ian Schwartz

[rktman]

Rabid skunks are on the rise and have been spotted in high numbers in El Dorado County.

Hold that leash a little tighter, because your furry friend now has more furry foes to worry about.

We all know skunks carry a unique smell, but there are more and more reports of them carrying the deadly rabies virus.

[rktman]

Oops. Sorry. I jumped the gun and thought, based on the header, that this article was about sanfran nan or fine-steen or boxcar.

[VerySadAmerican]

What’s forcing them into the republican party?

[rktman]

Uh, low water levels on the Cali rivers? Or maybe left over mercury pollution from the gold rush days?

[bigheadfred]

There is a rabid skunk in the white house.

[Varda]

The is truly an odd argument. Rabies is a brain disease which like most brain diseases is characterized by abnormal and irrational behavior. It's also known as Hydrophobia. Water or lack thereof isn't going to cause a rabid animal to do anything.
BTW One of my college classes discussed the spread of rabies. It seems people who capture and relocate wild animals (Havaheart traps) are the primary means of spread. In the past abnormally behaving (rabid ) animals where killed when they were found. Now they're taken to new territories to spread the disease.

[rktman]

There you go. Now you’ve offended rabid skuns. Of course most skunks are half white and half black. Some have a yellowish streak down there backs.

[bigheadfred]

No they aren’t offended. They are playing follow the leader.

[rarestia]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but actual rabies acts very fast and kills small animals in a matter of a few days, no? Is it communicable between animals in the same pack by proximity, or do they have to swap saliva, blood, or other body fluids? I would think that swaths of rabid skunks are going to be dead before they make it near any playgrounds.

[Liberty Valance]

Great point. Thanks for posting.

[Vaduz]

It’s true I saw Obama here in LA last month.

[Flick Lives]

One of my college classes discussed the spread of rabies. It seems people who capture and relocate wild animals (Havaheart traps) are the primary means of spread. In the past abnormally behaving (rabid ) animals where killed when they were found. Now they're taken to new territories to spread the disease.

Just a small example of the feel-good types actually causing more damage. Relocate a rabid animal, and now that animal infects more animals in another region. Result; more animals die. Pretty much how everything "works" with Libs "good intentions".

[Varda]

No rabies is very slow. It can take a year before it kills.

[CPOSharky]

The word around here, Arizona, is if you see a skunk during daylight, kill it.

[Varda]

Sorry, I didn't answer the rest of your question. Yes, bodily fluids have to be swapped. That's why it's important to teach kids that wild animals aren't like Disney especially if the animal is unafraid. Full blown rabies is still a death sentence to humans although a few people have survived.

[Gaffer]

Seems like the same thing, but in reverse. Many career entitlement leeches shop the country for the best and highest payout handouts for leechers. They find a place that has a high payout and they move there.

[kenmcg]

Nah! The rabid skunks are already in San Francisco and the state capitol

[Hot Tabasco]

No rabies is very slow.

No it's not.........

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/32131.html

[Patriot365]

Rabies took my aunt in 1937 when she had just turned 7 years old. She was bitten by a stray puppy. There was no treatment back then and not much today. It nearly destroyed my grandmother. She told me the doctors just strapped the child to a bed and they had to sit outside her room and listen to her scream for 5 days until she died. My grandmother was one of the strongest women I ever knew. I try to think of her when I start feeling sorry for myself. We sometimes forget what the prior generations went through.

[goat granny]

lol I thought it was about democrat politicans...

[Teacher317]

Since rabid animals only live for a few days, exactly how can they be gathering and making these grand mass exodus plans together?