Rabid raccoons in major city parks are no longer just a Central Park phenomenon. At Prospect Park in Brooklyn, a dead raccoon found near the lake and Vanderbilt Street Playground in the southwestern corner of the park last Thursday has tested positive for rabies, the city health department says.
Brooklyn has a very long way to go to catch up with Central Park and environs, where more than 100 raccoons have tested positive for rabies this year and raccoons are now being vaccinated. The Prospect Park raccoon was only the second rabid one found in Brooklyn since 1992, the health department said. The other was found in Boerum Hill in February of this year. (via)
the comments on this reddit post are mostly serious stuff about rabies and vaccination. there there was this: Raccoons can kill a coon dog no sweat if it's one on one. A good sized old coon can range up to 45 pounds. Old coons will lead dogs to water, then climb on the pursuing dogs head and drown them. via
...when these little guys showed up on my tv this morning. skip to 0:50.
they look healthy to me!
RACCOONS AND RABIES: New York City plans to vaccinate raccoons against rabies. Since December there have been almost 40 cases of rabies among raccoons in Central Park and upper Manhattan. Now the Health Department says that for the next couple months wildlife experts will humanely trap the raccoons, tag them, vaccinate them and then release them in the same location. (via)
