They Thought These Raccoons Had Rabies, But Found The Raccoons To Be Drunk

By | November 15, 2018

The rabies virus can infect all types of mammals. However, in the United States, common reservoirs are raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and bats. (Photo: Getty Images)Getty

What’s the difference between you and raccoons? If you were to get drunk, your neighbors probably wouldn’t tell the police that you may have rabies.

But that’s what happened to raccoons in Milton, West Virginia, according to a Facebook post by the local police department. Human residents of the town had reported seeing raccoon residents behaving badly and suspected that the animals had been infected by the rabies virus. However, further investigation revealed raccoons that were instead plastered. Sloshed. Drunk as skunks, except that they weren’t skunks.

How did this happen? Don’t raccoons get into trash rather than get trashed? Was it “Raccoon Night” at the local pub? Too many trash drinks? Nope. Apparently, these raccoons had been munching on some fermented crab apples as described by this news report:

Raccoons, how do you like them crab apples? Potentially quite a lot. As Liz Langley wrote for National Geographic, some animals may be actually be “attracted to overripe fruits.” Laurel Lee wrote for the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the following video shows a squirrel who supposedly got tipsy after hitting the sauce, the crab apple sauce:

No one seemed to use a breathalyzer to confirm that the squirrel was indeed inebriated.

In the case of the Milton raccoons, time seemed to resolve the raccoon rowdiness. As the Milton Police Facebook post described, the police eventually apprehended the “masked bandits” and then let them sober up while in custody before releasing them back into the wild. After all, it was the raccoons’ first offense.

OK, drunk raccoons can be dangerous. They can be unpredictable and scratch, bite, and harm you. And for Pete’s sake, don’t let them drive a car. But rabid raccoons would have been even worse. Contact with their saliva, such as through a bite, could transmit the rabies virus to you. And once you develop symptoms from the virus infecting your brain, you are in store for a pretty horrible death.

Thus, the Milton residents were smart to notify the authorities. If you see an unknown animal acting unusually in any way, notify the authorities and keep your distance. Any type of strange behavior could be a clue that the animal is infected with the rabies virus. In fact, most rabid animals won’t have the classic foaming at the mouth that you see in Stephen King movies. Some may just act angry or more aggressive than usual. Or they can have an unusual appearance. For example, as described in a news report for the Winston-Salem Journal, a 9 year old girl was sitting on her porch when, as the girl explained, a “coyote just decided it wants to eat me.” The girl continued that “a coyote just doesn’t do that. That’s why they thought I had rabies. (The coyote) was kind of greasy, like really gross, and it smelled like fruit.” Certainly, if an animal appears more greasy than usual or acts like he or she is on the cast of Grease, be very suspicious.   

Infected animals can also appear anxious or nervous. Tremors, seizures, paralysis, or other nervous system problems are bad signs as well.

More commonly, though, infected animals are more docile, timid or shy than usual. They may actually let you pet or otherwise touch them when they normally wouldn’t. An overly friendly animal is not necessarily a safe animal.

Finally, an infected animal may have no apparent symptoms and appear and act completely normal. Remember, even if you think you are Tarzan or the raccoon whisperer, you cannot tell for sure if an animal has rabies without laboratory testing. Therefore, stay safe and stay away from any wild or unknown animals. Remember, they don’t have to get drunk to get wild.

Forbes – Healthcare

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