Dog Stops Rabid Raccoon from Chasing Kids [News blog]

Raccoon Staring Outdoor on a Wooden Fence (Getty Images/Stock photo)

By: Jason Ruiter  Orlando Sentinel

Elvin Rodriguez’s 9- and 10-year-old sons were playing basketball at dusk on the driveway at their Tavares home when a nocturnal creature slipped through the fence.

After the raccoon started chasing the boys, the family’s dog, a 6-year-old boxer named Macho, came to their defense.

“I think he [Macho] knew, I think he heard the kids yelling and carrying on and he just jumped right in,” Rodriguez, 34, a Lake County Jail correctional officer, said Wednesday. Macho fought with the raccoon before Rodriguez, who grabbed his personal handgun, was “able to call him off” from the battle that left the dog with scratches around his eyes and ears. “Then it stopped for a minute, and hissed, and I was able to shoot it.”

The raccoon tested positive for rabies after the March 13 encounter, marking the fourth time in seven months a rabid animal has threatened Lake County residents.

“It didn’t sink in until afterwards; I was just trying to make sure the kids were OK,” Rodriguez said. “It [rabies] can be very serious.”

WORRIED ABOUT RACCOONS? 

1-866-263-WILD!

 In January, a 6-year-old boy died after exposure to a rabid bat south of Umatilla. Two weeks after he reported the “scratch” to his parents, he told them he couldn’t feel his fingers. Then his arms began to twitch and flail wildly before a severe headache set in that sent Ryker Roque, a rambunctious boy, into a coma. He died Jan. 14 at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

In September, a 74-year-old Clermont man was wearing flip-flops and shorts, picking up fallen branches outside his home near Lake Minneola, when a rabid fox lunged at him. He beat it off with his iPhone, dazing it, before fatally shooting it with a .22-caliber pellet rifle. And last month, another rabid raccoon was reported to be in Fruitland Park, according to the Florida Department of Health in Lake County.

“Rabies is a potentially fatal disease. It is important not to handle wild animals, to be aware of unusual acting animals and to keep pets vaccinated against rabies,” department administrator Aaron Kissler said.

Macho is now quarantined in the kennel on Rodriguez’s property until April 27. (more…)

Continue ReadingDog Stops Rabid Raccoon from Chasing Kids [News blog]

Dangers and Repercussions of DIY Wildlife Control Solutions

DIY Nightmares
A vent entry point that a client attempted to seal.

Unfortunately, after the momma raccoon left one day, this homeowner thought he would solve the issue of re-entry. What you are seeing here is a roof vent that the mama raccoon gained entry through originally. So, you may ask…. what’s the problem? Was there any harm done? Well, the little baby raccoons that were still inside the home think so! If you are a homeowner, please do not get involved or in the way of what a professional trapper is doing!

(more…)

Continue ReadingDangers and Repercussions of DIY Wildlife Control Solutions