I was out hiking in Uxbridge today, out in the Goat Hill area. I had my
19mos daughter with me in a backpack, and thankfully, NO dogs. We were
almost done with our hike when we came upon a huge raccoon (probably 20lbs)
in the middle of the trail (down by the river). He stared at us, started
clucking and chattering and then moving towards us. I took a few steps
forward, he didn't back down, but then headed down towards the river. Just
as I thought he was totally gone and it was safe to pass, he re-appeared,
loping towards us. I took off up the trail and after he followed me around
2 different bends, called 911 and ended up having local PD and Animal
control come out.
Whether or not he was rabid, I don't know. But it was daylight, and a
woman with a child in a backpack is not an unimposing sight to a small
animal. He chased us over 200yds up the trail, and finally as I headed
back up the hill, he was gone.
I ended up having to back track all the way out, fighting tired legs and low
sunlight. What had taken us 53min took me 30min out (practically at a
run). Don't think I'll be heading to the gym tomorrow!
Anyway, wanted to offer a head's up to anyone in that area, as it's a common
place for walking, hiking and dog walking. The ACO told me she'd just
shot a rabid possum earlier in the day..so there are definitely affected
animals in the area.
:-)
Boston Rott
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Uxbridge, MA - beware!
2 messages in this thread |
Started on 2007-01-04
Uxbridge, MA - beware!
From: Gretchen Caldwell (boston.rott@verizon.net) |
Date: 2007-01-04 17:47:05 UTC-05:00
Re: [LbNA] Uxbridge, MA - beware!
From: matolutacikala (matoluta@cmc.net) |
Date: 2007-01-04 19:43:45 UTC-08:00
In defense of opossums (we have raised several orphaned babies)...
Opossums are highly resistant to the rabies virus. The chance of rabies in an opossum is EXTREMELY RARE. It is believed that the opossum's low body temperature (94-97 F) makes it difficult for the virus to survive in an opossum's body.
----- Original Message -----
From: Gretchen Caldwell
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com ; LbNE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 2:47 PM
Subject: [LbNA] Uxbridge, MA - beware!
I was out hiking in Uxbridge today, out in the Goat Hill area. I had my
19mos daughter with me in a backpack, and thankfully, NO dogs. We were
almost done with our hike when we came upon a huge raccoon (probably 20lbs)
in the middle of the trail (down by the river). He stared at us, started
clucking and chattering and then moving towards us. I took a few steps
forward, he didn't back down, but then headed down towards the river. Just
as I thought he was totally gone and it was safe to pass, he re-appeared,
loping towards us. I took off up the trail and after he followed me around
2 different bends, called 911 and ended up having local PD and Animal
control come out.
Whether or not he was rabid, I don't know. But it was daylight, and a
woman with a child in a backpack is not an unimposing sight to a small
animal. He chased us over 200yds up the trail, and finally as I headed
back up the hill, he was gone.
I ended up having to back track all the way out, fighting tired legs and low
sunlight. What had taken us 53min took me 30min out (practically at a
run). Don't think I'll be heading to the gym tomorrow!
Anyway, wanted to offer a head's up to anyone in that area, as it's a common
place for walking, hiking and dog walking. The ACO told me she'd just
shot a rabid possum earlier in the day..so there are definitely affected
animals in the area.
:-)
Boston Rott
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Opossums are highly resistant to the rabies virus. The chance of rabies in an opossum is EXTREMELY RARE. It is believed that the opossum's low body temperature (94-97 F) makes it difficult for the virus to survive in an opossum's body.
----- Original Message -----
From: Gretchen Caldwell
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com ; LbNE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 2:47 PM
Subject: [LbNA] Uxbridge, MA - beware!
I was out hiking in Uxbridge today, out in the Goat Hill area. I had my
19mos daughter with me in a backpack, and thankfully, NO dogs. We were
almost done with our hike when we came upon a huge raccoon (probably 20lbs)
in the middle of the trail (down by the river). He stared at us, started
clucking and chattering and then moving towards us. I took a few steps
forward, he didn't back down, but then headed down towards the river. Just
as I thought he was totally gone and it was safe to pass, he re-appeared,
loping towards us. I took off up the trail and after he followed me around
2 different bends, called 911 and ended up having local PD and Animal
control come out.
Whether or not he was rabid, I don't know. But it was daylight, and a
woman with a child in a backpack is not an unimposing sight to a small
animal. He chased us over 200yds up the trail, and finally as I headed
back up the hill, he was gone.
I ended up having to back track all the way out, fighting tired legs and low
sunlight. What had taken us 53min took me 30min out (practically at a
run). Don't think I'll be heading to the gym tomorrow!
Anyway, wanted to offer a head's up to anyone in that area, as it's a common
place for walking, hiking and dog walking. The ACO told me she'd just
shot a rabid possum earlier in the day..so there are definitely affected
animals in the area.
:-)
Boston Rott
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]