| By Bob Weaver 2001
Calhoun school bus driver Bill Collins encountered a strange acting
raccoon on his
early route yesterday on lower Rowels Run, between Cremo and Goosenest
Hill. DNR
officer Tom Fox, who recovered the raccoon for testing, said it
attacked the tires of
the school bus. Collins said it was wallowing in a mud hole, biting at
its tail, digging
and falling over.
The behavior of the raccoon created serious concern since reports are
surfacing in
Calhoun and Wirt about rabid foxes and raccoons. Retired school bus
driver Clyde
Smith, who lives nearby, said a raccoon was killed three weeks ago
that acted the
same.
Local resident David Miller was summoned, shooting the animal. "It was
walking
around in a daze when I got there. There was a second dead coon near
the road," he
said, also taken by Tom Fox. The local health department was closed
today and vet
Dan Cain agreed to help process the testing of the head.
One of Calhoun's most noted woodsmen, Harold Stutler of Little Creek,
told The
Herald he is convinced rabies is spreading into the raccoon
population, although
there is insufficient validation through testing to declare the spread
into Calhoun and
Wirt Counties.
The recent killing of a fox near Little Creek proved positive for
rabies, and health
officials are continuing to evaluate the situation. (SEE earlier Hur
Herald stories)
Calhoun Sheriff Allen Parsons said people need to vaccinate all their
animals and pets
against rabies and hunters and trappers should exercise care. "We
don't want people
to panic over this," he said.
Postscript: The tests proved negative for rabies.
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