Racoons often carry rabies
A family here in North Carolina is learning a hard lesson about interactions with cute wildlife after they were exposed to rabies after playing with an over friendly raccoon.
Cumberland County Animal Control officers said two raccoon picked up Tuesday have tested positive for rabies.
Before they knew the animal was dangerous, the Koonce family treated one of the raccoons like a pet at their home
“It acted like somebody’s pet. It would follow you, would play with you,” Bill Koonce said.
The family even made a bed for the animal in the garage.
The lack of fear the raccoon showed humans worried Stacey Koonce, so she contacted animal control to pick it up. She said there were a string of calls made before animal control picked up the raccoon the next morning.
The animal never attacked the family, but each must undergo shots in case they were infected.
I’m amazed at times how people just forget about the “wild” in wild animals. I’ve seen people try to pet deer, elk, and buffalo inside a number of national parks or even worse send a small child over to stand next to a critter for a photo op. Maybe Disney has warped the thinking of these people or something. Wild animals are not pets and should not be thought of as such. While the treatment for rabies is not as bad as it use to be I still wouldn’t want to have to go through it.
