Rabid!

 

Yesterday was exciting. Late morning I let Chance outside. A few minutes later Shawn looked out the kitchen window and remarked, "Chance has something cornered under the car. He's dancing all over the place....It's a raccoon."

Knowing that raccoons can do a number on dogs, I called him in. Such a good boy, he came right away! In a few minutes, Shawn went outside and squatted down next to the car. The raccoon had not moved. After watching for a bit, he came in and said, "Call the game warden. That raccoon is sick, and he's not looking very good. He has foam dripping from his mouth." Rabid raccoon. Late stage rabies causes the throat to constrict so they can't swallow, and saliva has nowhere to go but out.

 

I called Maiine Fisheries and Wildlife, and was switched to a phone number that told me to call someone else. That person told me she was in fisheries and didn't know how to get ahold of a game warden. Back to square one. I called Waldo County Sheriff's Department and Dispatch (bless her little heart) placed a call to the game warden and said to look for their call. First, though, she had to ask me some covid questions. Really? I think rabies is far deadlier than covid! This covid nonsense has reached the ridiculous.

 

In the meantime, the raccoon had been wandering all over the place. Up our light pole and down again, hanging on the screen door, 

 

trying to climb up the garden tools that were in a corner by the house, roaming round and round the house, hiding under a tarp that covers the lawn tractor, back to the shed and crawling underneath, meandering past the sunroom, completely ignoring the birdseed that is littered all over the ground. That last is another great indication of rabies.  Can't eat, can't drink, ataxia,

 

After about an hour, I called a friend to come shoot the darn thing. He said he'd be there in half an hour. Finally, a deputy sheriff showed up, and of course, the raccoon was nowhere to be found. After about 15 minutes, he left, and the game warden called. Turns out the nearest one is in Damariscotta, about an hour away.

 

Shortly after, Ralph showed up. He'd seen the raccoon at the end of my road. I was supposed to be somewhere, so I got into my car and pulled out of the driveway just in time to hear three shots. Off I went to the house again to get a shovel, then back again to get a couple of big paper bags, and then off again to get a plastic bag. The shovel was for moving the raccoon into the double bags, and then pop him into the plastic bag. He was a big sucker! I'll bet he weighed at least 20 pounds.

 

One of my neighbors from across the road was there, on the phone with the game warden. She'd also seen the raccoon wandering haphazardly.  Since my car was sitting in (blocking) her driveway, she conversed about the raccoon for a minute or two before I bagged the animal in plastic.

 

Thankfully, the dump was open and I took the critter to his temporary grave, at the direction of the game warden.  Apparently the only time they test is when there is known physical contact with a suspected rabid animal. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

 

This morning I let Chance out.  Within a few minutes, he was barking at something under the shed. We are overdue for a rabies outbreak in this area. I do hope it was just a squirrel he was barking at.