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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,897 posts)
Thu Sep 13, 2012, 04:31 PM Sep 2012

Another rabid beaver attacks in Northern Virginia

Another rabid beaver attacks in Northern Virginia

Naomi Jagoda
Staff Reporter

A rabid beaver approached young children at a nature center in Fairfax County over the weekend, officials said, just days after another rabid beaver bit an 83-year-old woman in a Fairfax lake.

About 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Fairfax County Animal Control officers went to Hidden Pond Nature Center in Springfield. The incident occurred during a program in which about 15 children were participating.

The kids were fishing when a beaver was spotted approaching a dock where about four or five children were located, a nature center staff member who witnessed the incident told Fairfax County Park Authority spokeswoman Judy Pedersen.


and

Beavers Continue to Terrorize Northern Virginia

Posted by Will Sommer on Sep. 12, 2012 at 10:33 am

What's going on with Fairfax County's beavers? Exactly a week after a beaver bit an 83-year-old woman swimming in an Annandale lake and infected her with rabies, the industrious rodents are back, WTOP reports:

A beaver jumped out of the water at the Hidden Pond Nature Center in Springfield and onto the dock, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. It was "seen acting aggressively and chasing the children," an FCPD release says.


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left on green only

(1,484 posts)
2. I believe that is what rabies does to animals who become.......
Thu Sep 13, 2012, 04:37 PM
Sep 2012

...infected by it. At least that is how I remember it in the movie, "Old Yeller". So then it seems to me that the bigger question would be, "What is the source of rabies that has infected the beaver population, and what can we, as stewards of this planet's wildlife, do to stop it?"

upon edit to expand thesis

 

kestrel91316

(51,666 posts)
3. Probably has a lot to do with the out-of-control rabies problem in the imported raccoon population.
Thu Sep 13, 2012, 04:50 PM
Sep 2012

A few decades ago some hunters in the deep south imported raccoons into the eastern seaboard states and they brought some rabies-infected ones. The rest is history.

FSogol

(45,360 posts)
4. In the 80s, Fairfax County trapped, vaccinated, and released raccoons.
Thu Sep 13, 2012, 05:19 PM
Sep 2012

Rabies almost vanished except for the occasional fox or bat. I suppose that program was killed off with budget cuts. I live about 6 miles from Hidden Pond (from the news story) and my wooded back yard is filled with raccoons, opossums, squirrels, feral cats, etc. I really don't want to see a rabies epidemic.

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