MORE RABIES: Previously, we “outed” raccoons as the Pennsylvania
animal most likely to carry rabies.

Today, we look at some other animals on that list, based on a a
2006 online report by Thomas Wampler of the Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture.

The oft-maligned bat did nothing for its image by making the
list. The report notes the first bat documented with rabies in
Pennsylvania was reported in 1953. Since then, seven of the nine
species of bats found in the state had rabies, mostly big brown
bats. Other positives included a little brown bat, a northern
long-eared bat, an eastern red bat and an eastern pipistrelle.

Only a small percentage of bats, though, were rabies
carriers.

Nevertheless, the report warns, there’s no taking chances with
those noctural creatures since rabid bats have been encountered in
Pennsylvania every year since 1961.

RTS readers have written us about their close encounters with
bats. The report notes that these unwelcome visitors are the
primary reason that indoor cats and dogs should be vaccinated
against rabies.

Rodents rarely test positive, the report says. “As prey species,
most rodents flee at the first sign of danger or are killed during
the initial attack by a predator. Groundhogs are an exception,
however, and will often stand their ground and fight if threatened
too far from a safe burrow.”

Six groundhogs were positive last year, and rabid groundhogs
have been reported every year in the state for close to thirty
years.

Rabies, the report notes, has never been recorded in mice,
voles, chipmunks or other small rodents in Pennsylvania, excluding
one rat in 1945. The first muskrat was also reported that year, and
another just recently.

“Seven squirrels have been positive in Pennsylvania during the
past four decades. Three beavers, Pennsylvania’s largest rodent,
have also been reported positive for rabies, the latest in
2001.

“Four Pennsylvania whitetail deer were positive last year,
bringing the statewide total of rabid deer to 24 since 1951, 10 of
those in the last three years.

“Two otters and nine bobcats have tested positive, including one
bobcat each year for the last four years. The first confirmed case
of rabies in a black bear occurred three years ago in Centre
County.

“Only five opossums have ever been confirmed positive, all from
1983 to 1985. Rabies has never been diagnosed in Pennsylvania’s
wild rabbits or other small terrestrial mammals such as shrews and
moles.”