RABIES PRIMER: Ever wonder which of the wild critters that
occasionally scurry across your backyard or are spotted in the
surrounding forest might be rabies carriers?

Given their track record a while back across the border in
Cattaraugus County, we put raccoons at the top of the list. We
guessed right.

We found the answer – including the rabies runners-up – in a
2006 online report by Thomas Wampler of the Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture.

The report showed a total of 504 animals testing positive for
rabies in 2006 in Pennsylvania, including 14 species of wildlife
and seven species of domestic animals. The winner (or loser, in
this case) is the 283 raccoons who led the list of rabies-positive
animals. In fact, close to half of the raccoons submitted last year
to the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory tested positive for
rabies.

Here’s some other information from the report:

Other species testing positive last year were 62 skunks, 41 bats
(of five different species), 32 foxes (both red and gray), six
groundhogs, four whitetail deer, two coyotes, one bobcat and one
fisher.

Fishers are a member of the family that also includes skunks,
weasels, mink, and otters. Last year was the first year that a
coyote or a fisher had been reported with rabies in
Pennsylvania.

“While no weasels or mink have been documented with rabies in
the Commonwealth,” Wampler writes, “skunks are commonly seen with
the disease, and two otters have also been reported positive.”

The PVL has maintained records of rabies diagnostic testing in
Pennsylvania from 1900 to the present. Rabid animals have been
found in the Commonwealth every year during this time, ranging from
lows of only 11 positives in 1964 and 1968, to a high of 902
positives in 1944.

Why the recent spike?

Raccoons were not major rabies carriers in Pennsylvania until
the late 1970s when infected ones were translocated to several
states from West Virginia.

The rabies virus from these animals first appeared in
Pennsylvania raccoon populations in 1982, and by 1989, a high of
488 rabid raccoons were reported in the Commonwealth.

So, as interesting as these masked bandits are to ogle as they
rummage through garage cans or show up on your patio, the message
is, “Keep your distance.” Since their re-introduction into the
state, raccoons have continued to have the highest incidence of
rabies since that time.

More on this fascinating subject soon.