Rabid fox
Tony wrote...
"Has anyone ever seen a rabid animal attack? I've seen nocturnal animals staggering around in the daytime and assumed - maybe incorrectly - that they were rabid. They were kinda sluggish, but I've read that the fury of a rabid animal's attack is hard to imagine if you haven't seen it."
Well, though I have never seen such an attack in person, I did see one on a PBS show about cheetahs. The animal, an adult cheetah, behaved in a suspicious manner by approaching two men. It ended up bitting one of them and was captured. A day or two later it was displaying obvious signs of sickness that turned out to be rabbies and it died. The man was treated immediately and lived
A rabid animal may appear healthy (to most of us, including myself) at first. Late stages in the disease the animal may appear very, and obviously, unhealthy- weak, staggering, foaming at the mouth. But, even late in the diseases progress an animal may still be capable of a surprisingly strong and vicious attack. That is why I repeatedly advise that we and our pets keep a wide distance from any wild or unfamiliar animals that we may encounter, even if they do not appear sick or are the usual species associated with the disease. My mind goes to the real case of a small child that died of rabbies after coming in coming in contact with a sick cat. She was not even bitten.
I think that Tony made a very important observation when he made the remark about seeing nocturnal animals abroad during the day time. Any animal that acts in an unexpected manner is to be treated as highly suspicious. Especially a wild animal that approaches us.
By the way- I don't supose that any of this threads viewers see "The View"? But last weds, "what the hell weds", this story (women jogger and fox) came up. No new insights, but this story is certainly a "What the Hell" if I ever heard one.