Have any of you ever killed on suspicion of rabies?

J

Jamie Young

New member
A few nights ago I was letting My cat in the back door. As soon as I opened the door, I heard a really unique animal sound. My Cat started doing the old weerroooowwww weerooooow and then out of know where a fox darted out of My garden and about 15yds in front of me. I thought it was My cat, at first, but It scared the _______ out of me when I saw it wasn't a cat. I know I'm coward for being scared of a fox at 5am, but, it totally caught me off guard.

I have a park right behind My house and on more than one occasion I've seen critters jump out of My trash can,or My neighbors. My cat is rarely outside but from time to time he gets in fights with the neighborhood ally cats. This last time was with a fox:eek: If My cat were to ever cross paths with a racoon,I'd probable blast it.

Other than hunting for food I don't like to kill things. But there's another time to kill.;)

Have any of you ever taken racoon or coyotes suspecting they had rabies?
 
Yes.
In 1979 I was out shooting with two other guys. A red fox came out of the woods and was running right towards us. I figured that #1 it isn't natural for a fox to run toward humans #2 it is even less natural when there is a whole lot of gunfire.
I shot it right between the eyes with a .22 rifle. I then sold the pelt to a fur buyer for $80. While I was in the fur buyers place of business, I bought a knife that I still use everytime I am hunting.
 
I never saw a fox dart right at me either. I know as long as I didn't miss and freak out all the neighbors I could get away with it. But if I missed the'd probable think I was drunk and didn't see anything:)
 
One time while deer hunting I came upon a fox which just stood and looked at me from some twenty feet away. He was foamy at the mouth. I shot him and took the carcass to the state health department lab--and he wasn't rabid.

However, when I see really unusual behavior and an indication of disease of any kind, at the worst I'm probably ending some sort of misery.

Hey, I'd rather get a .30-'06 in the head than spend four months of tubes and anti-pain-drugs in a hospital, waiting to die.

Art
 
Raccoons definetly carry rabies, but not all of them. Rabies has recently become a big problem here (VT), especially raccoons. The police shoot about one a week in my town and almost all tested pos. They were shot because they displayed erratic behavior. I think raccoons are so well known as rabies carriers because the behavior diff is so noticeable. When rabid, they quickly display extreme aggression, daylite wandering, foaming, and dragging their heads on the ground (end stage). Usually here in rural areas, they are pretty stealthy, so if they are rabid it's pretty obvious. I won't hesitate to shoot a raccoon that appears rabid. Think of it as saving all the other raccoons. And I don't know how they pick it up, but I would guess from the rodents they eat.
 
I've never heard of Deer or Bear getting rabies. I suppose they could. I know of some Game Commission guys taking deer that were sickly, but not from rabies.

Seems like diseases are showing up more and more in animals, now that they seemed to have adapted to their urban environments. One of the best reasons for hunting, is controlling population, thus... preventing disease. Something the anti-hunters need to think about.
 
rabies

Here in rural Wisconsin we've had a few rabid animals come into the yard. I shot one about a month ago. Got to within 20 feet of it and it never noticed me. General rule of thumb around here, if it's out in the open in broad daylight and it doesn't run away don't take any chances, put it out of it's misery.
 
This may sound harsh but I shoot any raccoon, on sight , given the opportunity, same goes for all other varmint/pest animals like ground hogs, possum etc.
I like animals and think its great to see them in the wild. But you have to remember that they can be destructive and disease ridden. I'm not saying I would shoot a raccoon if I was out in the woods somewhere hunting and spooked one up. But around the farm, they've got to go.
To many neighbors around here poorly manage their trash, pet food, buildings, yards/fields etc. and it has caused the raccoon population to skyrocket, not to mention the fact that some of the morons like to feed them. They ruin hay and straw making nests and ****ting all over it and make a general mess of buildings, they will completely destroy a field of sweet corn in one night once its ripe. Not to mention the unpleasant surprise of picking up a bale of hay and finding you've just uncovered a nest, and have inadvertanly cornered a mother and babies. Combine that with the disease factor. The behavior of a sick animal (aggression etc.) makes them a hazard especially towards pets or unknowing youngsters.
Possums pose the same problems but aren't nearly as common around here. And even though the climbing population of coyotes has mostly taken care of ground hogs, their holes are hell on farm equipment and tractor tires.
The population has to be mananged, and my shooting them won't even put a dent in it, but it does prevent a lot lot of possible problems.
 
I don't have a problem with that. I started bear hunting only after My friend was charged by one, standing at the back door of his cabin. Sometimes you just have to control animal populations for disease and safety reasons.

Same goes for mountain lions and coyotes. Especially if you have livestock you have to protect.
 
About a month ago my father shot a coyote that would not run away from him. The story that I got follows:
Dad was working at that shop(farm in rural west Texas), and his dog would not stop barking at his scrap iron trailers. These trailers have wire bottoms with pieces of old farm equiptment piled on them. He finally went out to investigate and saw a coyote laying (lying, whichever) beneath one of them. This is about 75 yds from where he has been hammering, welding, cutting, and generally being loud. It never moved at this point, which is not that odd because it may have just thought that it was hidden. He went up to the house and pulled out his 22 pistol(odd choice, he has a 357 in the pickup, and a safe full of guns in the house, no rifle because the dog is gunshy, she wont come out for at least an hour after gunfire) and proceeds back out to the trailer half expecting the coyote to have left. It was still in the same spot. He walked closer, hoping it would get out from under the trailer so he would not have to drag it out. It never moved. Now the story gets a bit odd. He shot once near it, still no reaction other than to look at him. He then climbed on the trailer and jumped up and down right over the coyote. It still just staired. Instead for just shooting it, he went in and called the local vet to see what to do. The vet said shoot it and bring it in for testing. Dad already knew this, I dont know what he was thinking. So he went back out and shot it, took it to town, and had it tested. It came back completely healty.
Sorry about the length, just an interesting story that I probably made boring with length.
Jared
 
Skunks are one of the biggest carriers of rabies here. Our county has led the state in recent years in confirmed cases. Coons and coyotes in the mix. Even had a horse confirmed and put down.

Last fall I had a skunk come scrambling out of the woods toward me and a 1000 watt flood light that I had just turned on. Don't even remember getting the snub .38 out of ankle holster, but clearly recall sight picture as first JHP winged him at about 5 yards, at which time he decided to turn broadside ... Called county animal control the next morning, told the gal who answered that I had killed an unusual-acting skunk. I asked if they wanted to pick it up and check it for rabies or should I just bury it. The girl put me hold for about 30 seconds and came back with "You have permission to bury it." :barf:
 
Bats are a known carrier of rabies and are fairly rare in this neck of the woods. I entered my old barn/shed/reloading room (that Hurricane Andrew re-modeled for me) one day and there was a bat on the rafters. The first one I ever saw here. I popped him with a .22LR "rat shot", and picked him up with a small stick. I then buried him and the stick......................was he healthy or diseased? DIIK. (Dammed If I know) :) . I do know he was grave yard dead after that load of #12 shot.
 
About the only way you can get rabies from a bat is to stir up dust in a cave in which they roost, and inhale deeply and often. :) You really have to work at it. Bats are carriers, but they don't bite people or other mammals...And they eat their own weight in insects, most nights.

Art
 
I have had the fun of going thru the shots, shoot when in doubt.

It's not true that skunks are the biggest carriers, Raccoons are.

Look up any list of Rabies found most anywhere and you will find about 99-98% "Raccoon" Phenotype and msot of the rest "Other."

Even most all skunks with rabies got it from a raccoon.

The cat that nailed me had the Raccoon type and blood tests confirmed I did get infected.

And belive me the shots, a lot of them, really hurt!

The 3 shot series you can get before you are bitten are just normal shots.
 
Zorro,

When did you have the series? They've come along way recently, I think it's three shots in any muscle. A K-9 officer I worked with was scratched by a rabid fox and had to have the series. I think he took his shots in the thigh.

In Florida the biggest carriers of rabies are racoon and fox. Don't know the stats for opossum. But do know that there are no recoded cases for squirrels (in Florida).
 
Have any of you ever killed on suspicion of rabies?

Absolutely, and I would do the same again given the circumstances.
 
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