Rabid Beavers

[fisheye]

Just out of curiosity; nobody worries about a rabid beaver in a reservoir? I think that I would prefer that rabid beavers were not swimming in my drinking water supply. I thought that we only had to worry about beavers infecting our water supply with the Giardia cysts. Always something else to worry about!

[foxywench]

fisheye, rabies cannot survive long outside of the body therefore there is no risk of rabies contaminating the drinking water...
add to that that outside the body its a very delicate virus that can be killed wiht basic soap and water even if it did become able too survive outside of the body, the processing that take splace getting water from the resevoir to your house would kill it...

whats very odd is that some of these rabid beaver attacks occur around water...
Rabies ofther name is hydrophobia (or FEAR of water) even in its early stages rabid animals will typically avoid water sources, not only refusing to drink, but swim/bathe.
very odd...

[tamiznluv]

Good point, foxy. It's been so long since I've heard the scientific name that I'd forgotten what rabies really means!

[fisheye]

foxywench, tamiznluv,

In the other rabid beaver thread (http://www.city-data.com/forum/natur...ut-leader.html) I talked about a muskrat that came after me forty five years ago. In duck season I watched a muskrat that was swimming down the Middle of the Delaware. It spotted me and made a beeline for me. I backed up and it kept on coming snarling/hissing at the same time. It was fall and I would not think that it was protecting babies?

I always heard that animals would crave water and not drink ( with hydrophobia/rabies). I did not know what to think of muskrat that was crazy enough to try to attack a hunter with a loaded double barrel ten gauge in his hands.

But that was not my only encounter with animals that might have been rabid. I also had two encounters with raccoons that might or might not have been rabid.

Even though the virus might have a short life; I still would not be crazy about rabid animals swimming in my drinking water. We don't even like swimmers in our drinking water.

[foxywench]

i dunno ive met seem pretty seriously agressive none rabid musk rats lol, have a frined who hunts em for fur...they can be SERIOUSLY mean!

most rabid animals will avoid water if it enters the hydrophobic stage (which is typically when they become agressive)
now some dont become hydrophobic, but they also typically dont beocme agressive either.
not all rabid animals act agressivly.

its certianly not a case of might, as a vector species rehabber tranmittion was throughly covered and while id never say never, it was made perfetly clear that rabies cannot be spread via a water supply...in its current state (all bets are off howver if the virus ever mutated in such a way.
while the idea of anything swimming in our drinking water is a little skeevy, rabies is certainly the least of your worries lol.

[uggabugga]

here's another one. at least no one was bitten this time.
Rabid beaver chases children in Springfield - Crime Scene - The Washington Post

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

here's another one. at least no one was bitten this time.
Rabid beaver chases children in Springfield - Crime Scene - The Washington Post

I wonder if they are having the same problems with beaver in the Central and Western states? I wonder if the virus has mutated that we are hearing about all of these beaver?

[uggabugga]

Originally Posted by fisheye

I wonder if they are having the same problems with beaver in the Central and Western states? I wonder if the virus has mutated that we are hearing about all of these beaver?

all of the stories seem to come from one relatively small eastern section of the US: VA-MD-PA. i don't know if the virus mutated [they do that pretty easily] but there must be something out of the ordinary going on that wasn't happening in past years