https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/baylisascaris/gen_info/faqs.ht...
Well that was the easiest research for my local area that I've ever done, thanks for the info!
TIL there are mongoose (mongooses? mongeese?) in Puerto Rico.
> The first successful introduction of mongooses to the Caribbean region was back in 1872. They were intentionally brought to the islands to control rats that were destroying sugarcane crop. From Jamaica, they were taken to other islands, between 1877 and 1879, Puerto Rico, St. Cr4iox [sic] and St. John for the same rat-control purpose. In 1883, Jamaican mongooses were imported by sugar growers on the Big Island of Hawaii, and then were later taken to the other Hawaiian Islands.
http://stoppinginvasives.com/home/database/herpestes-javanic...
I'm not sure of the reliability of this source.
"But studies have shown it lying dormant for five days to several years before the symptoms kicked in. So not only won't you know you have the disease, it might not come to bite you in the ass for a couple of years, long after the animal that caused it has laughed itself to death."
https://www.cracked.com/blog/quarantined-6-things-you-learn-...
Maybe this is more reliable.
"In rare cases, it can vary from 10 days to 2 years."
I've chased a raccoon out from under my house in the middle of the daytime.
It may just mean that someone annoyed the raccoon.
which attempts to keep rabies out of the squirrel population in the west by vaccinating the Appalachian ridge (and to a lesser extent other borders).
Grouping it in this way is important because terrestrial mammals can be vaccinated easily.
Has been done with success in central Europe just drone seeding a zone with meat baits with oral vaccines on them. 90% of the foxes and jackals in an area can be vaccinated really fast with this system and then you repeat it each year to include also the new cubs. Then you stop messing seriously with the population to avoid empty territories and new animals moving to the area. Is perfectly doable if you have the political will of vaccinating and -not- culling the vaccinated population. Culling increases the probability of having rabies in the area.
Dogs and cats can be (or are required to be) vaccinated, so is not a big problem either. You just need to watch for stray cats and dogs and use the baits again.
Bats can't be vaccinated easily and they are big travelers, so still are the main reservoir in Europe. We still don't have a solution for this problem
Ooook, now I understand why nobody is keeping bats as pet. Just think how much the vaccination costs each and every year for both the bat and the owner (and the bystanders screaming in fear, potentially).
I've seen people freak out because they've seen a raccoon in the daytime and think (1) raccoons are nocturnal so this one is acting strange, and (2) raccoons are rabies carriers, and so it is probably acting strange because it is rabid.
In fact in this part of the country (western Washington) from 1988-2020 rabies has not been found in any wild terrestrial mammal. The only mammals found to have rabies over that time have been 530 bats, 2 cats, 1 horse, and 1 llama.
There's a nifty map here [1] showing what animal populations have rabies in which states.
So what does it mean when you see a raccoon in the daytime in western Washington? It almost always means they aren't finding enough food at night so have to put in overtime foraging.
This is quite common around breeding time. The pregnant females need more food than normal and often will have to go out during the day to get it.
BTW, I believe it is not known why rabies is not found in wild terrestrial mammals here.
For squirrels there are at least three theories. (1) Squirrels are safely asleep in their nests when bats are out, so don't get bitten by bats and if they get bitten by something else that something else is probably big enough that the encounter is fatal for the squirrel, (2) maybe squirrels have strong natural immunity so don't get it even if they do get bitten, or (3) maybe squirrels are particularly vulnerable to it so if they get bitten by a bat they quickly die before they can spread it and since we don't do autopsies on random dead squirrels we come across we never find out about the briefly rabid squirrels.
For raccoons, I don't think it is clear why they aren't picking it up from bats here.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/wild_an...