No squirrels were harmed and I worshed my hands after.

EDIT: Also I feed the squirrels, we’re chill, that’s why this one was so comfortable having his back turned to the gate. He just got a little too greedy.

  • anon6789@lemmy.world
    2·
    6 days ago

    As a trained squirrel handler, while it’s not impossible for a squirrel to get rabies, there is probably a single digit number of them out there at any given moment.

    At least in the US, no one has ever gotten rabies from a squirrel.

    Your rabies prone species are bats, coyotes, fox, groundhogs, raccoons, and skunks.

    That said, it’s unadvisable to touch any wild animals. (Though I’d still boop that squirrel.)

    • mojofrododojo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      Your rabies prone species are bats, coyotes, fox, groundhogs, raccoons, and skunks.

      and people.

      lol I actually have no idea if person to person actually ever happens, know it’s been an issue in transplants tho, which is like… how?

      • anon6789@lemmy.world
        2·
        5 days ago

        It looks like the organs/corneas were from people that died without knowing they had it. That seems to have been the only way it’s ever been spread human to human.

        This story of a girl who got bit, developed symptomatic rabies, and survived says she got bit by a bat and it didn’t even bleed, so her mom put peroxide on it and they thought she was fine. She was ok for over a month.

      • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
        2·
        5 days ago

        I believe rabies has a pretty long incubation period before symptoms appear, so there’s a window where you might not know someone has it