Mary wrote:
>Let me just add to this - I don't have a complete list of mammals that
>carry rabies but no not all mammals.  Chipmunks don't (I asked the vet
>because of Giesela's encounters), squirrels don't, I don't think rabbits
>do?
 
I believe your vet's info wasn't entirely correct.  afaik, the only mammals
that have never contracted rabies are of the marine variety, such as
whales, dolphins, seals, etc.  Chipmunks, squirrels, ground hogs, and
rabbits can all contract rabies, but they're not considered vectors because
they have little tendency to bite other animals, transmitting the disease.
 
>Mostly it seems to be bats, racoons, skunks, fox and of course cats
>and dogs need rabies shots.  I wonder (pure amateur speculation here) if
>its more a carnivore thing?
 
Excepting the domesticates, these animals are reservoirs in the order you
listed them.  Carnivores are the biggest worry because they make a living
out of biting other animals, and if they fail to kill their prey while
shedding (virus is present in saliva) they've potentially passed rabies
along to a new host.  Rodents and lagomorphs (hares and rabbits) rarely
attack other animals, even when rabid, so the disease dies with them.
 
>Of course I can't find the right Dog Fancy or was it Dog World?  right now
>but they recently had a little statistics box on rabies.  I remember doing
>the math and approximatly 2 people a year have tested positive for rabies
>in something like the last 20 years (this is a straight average I don't
>know if the cases clumped in certain years or not).  The highest percentage
>of vectors (i.e. what they got the rabies from) was bats.
 
Pretty much correct @ 2 human cases per year, and I can get the exact
numbers for you if you wish, but as I recall it's something like 19 of
the last 34 cases involved the silver-haired bat (*l. noctivagans*).
 
>Mary, Booker and the fuzzbutts Boris and Giesela
 
>Anyone know about Ground hogs?  They seem to be rodents so I think not but
>we have a bunch around here so I'd like to know.
 
Yes, they're rodents, and about 50 test positive for rabies each year in
the US.
 
"Who, me officer?  What's a ferut?  These guys??  No, they're Polish cats."
[Posted in FML issue 2796]