Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts

Monday, October 29, 2018

Rabid Raccoon found in Nassau County, Long Island, NY

Local animal trapper says animals get a bad rap, but the county says to be alert for rabid raccoons on Long Island.
Nassau County health officials have asked residents to be on the lookout for unusual behavior in raccoons after one in Nassau County was found to have rabies. Following the recent finding of a rabid raccoon in Nassau County, health officials have advised the public to be on the lookout for sickly raccoons.
The Nassau Health Department announced Thursday that an animal collected in Hicksville by a wildlife trapper and submitted to the state for analysis tested positive for rabies, the first confirmed case of the disease on Long Island since 2007.
On Friday evening, Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. James Tomarken ordered an increase in the countywide rabies-watch program, particularly along the county border in Babylon and Huntington. Residents of those towns have been asked to report “abnormally acting raccoons” and dead raccoons. Dead raccoons should be discarded in the garbage, but health officials warned that people and pets should have no direct contact with dead or dying animals. The county recommends using a shovel, wearing rubber gloves, and double-bagging the carcass.
The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, usually transmitted through a bite from a rabid animal. The virus can also be transferred from the saliva of a rabid animal through open cuts or skin lesions.
Suffolk County residents have been asked to report raccoons that come into contact with people or pets to the county Department of Health Services. The county has also asked that no one, including trappers and nuisance wildlife rehabilitators, transport or relocate any wild animals to help prevent the possible spread of the rabies virus.
The virus, usually transmitted through a bite from a rabid animal, infects the central nervous system. The virus can also be transferred from the saliva of a rabid animal through open cuts or skin lesions.
Dell Cullum, an East Hampton wildlife trapper, said that they are already experiencing a thinning of the raccoon population on the east end of Long Island due to a widespread outbreak of distemper over the past couple of years. Raccoons can contract feline or canine distemper, though distemper is not transferable to humans.
“There is no cure, and the raccoons die after a short period of time. However, before death, they will have seizures that resemble what people think are signs of rabies,” like chattering teeth, Mr. Cullum said. He called the latest news unfortunate for the animals. “It’s a shame, as these critters get a bad enough rap.”
Animals most associated with the rabies virus are skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and bats. Mr. Cullum said, though, that feral cat populations were more likely to be infected by rabies. “I’d worry more about them than a raccoon,” he said.
Excessive drooling, aggression, fearfulness, and other uncommon behavior are signs of rabies. On the East End, however, abnormal behavior can be challenging to pinpoint because, Mr. Cullum said, raccoons here are no longer strictly nocturnal. “Due to the abundance of trash and its accessibility day and night, the raccoon finds it safe to forage day or night,” he said, noting that he gets many calls about raccoons seen during daylight hours.
He said that the best way to tell if a raccoon is sick with distemper or rabies is disorientation. “Most commonly, the sick animal will walk in circles, stumble, or show difficulty using their back legs . . . this looks terrifying; however, at this point, they are usually very close to death.” Mr. Cullum recommended videotaping a suspicious raccoon and sending the tape to the health department.

Raccoon Removal in Long Island

Raccoons are nuisance animals that can become aggressive and spread disease to humans and pets. They are active year-round but can be most destructive in late winter and early Spring as they seek nesting or denning areas to birth their young.

Raccoon Description

  • Raccoons are stocky with short front legs and long back legs.
  • Adults are 20 to 30 inches long and weigh 10 to 35 pounds.
  • They have grayish-black fur, rounded ears, and a distinguishing black “mask” over the eyes.
  • They are very furry with a striped tail, having alternating light and dark rings.
  • These mammals are widespread throughout the United States.

Raccoon Behavior

  • Raccoons are brilliant. According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, studies have shown that these mammals can remember solving tasks for up to three years.
  • Raccoons are nocturnal animals and are active year-round.
  • They make their homes:
    – Natural dens – in wooded areas along streams, lakes, marshes, swamps, and farmland in hollow trees, ground burrows, brush piles, or rock.
    – In cities/suburbs – in backyards, beneath decks, or in outbuildings, such as sheds, barns, or abandoned buildings.
  • – In houses – in attics, chimneys, and the spaces beneath the home or porch.
  • Like many wildlife, raccoons have their young in the Spring, generally having. litters of 3 to 6 babies, or “kits.”
  • The kits stay with their mother for the first year, then begin to leave as newborns are born the following Spring.
  • They are omnivorous, eating just about anything. Preferred food includes:
    – Plants: fruits, plums, gooseberries, blackberries, blueberries, dogwood berries, wild cherries, currants, grapes, apples, hawthorns, acorns, hazelnuts, and beechnuts, corn, grains.
    – Animals: crayfish, clams, fish, frogs, snails, insects, turtles, rabbits, muskrats, eggs and young of ground-nesting birds, turtle eggs.
    – Human foods: garden fruits, nuts, vegetables, outdoor pet food, garbage and compost scavenging, bird feeder grains.
  • To feed, raccoons use the well-developed sensory nerves on their paws to feel their food and remove unwanted parts.

Raccoon Damage & Disease

Raccoons can cause a great deal of damage to homes and yards and be threatening to human health, including:
  • In gardens and yards – Raccoons will eat garden vegetables and fruit; they will raid trash cans and eat pet food left outside.
  • To home exteriors – Raccoons will rip off shingles, fascia boards, rooftop ventilators, and crawlspace doors to get into the home (particularly attic and crawlspace) to nest.
  • To home interiors – They will use insulation for nesting and urinate and leave feces in the areas they den, leaving parasites and foul odors.
  • To people and pets – Raccoons carry diseases and parasites. They can spread rabies as well as the raccoon roundworm to people. Rabies is deadly, and raccoon roundworms can cause serious problems or disabilities, particularly to young children. Raccoons can also transmit canine distemper and parvovirus to dogs.

Raccoon Removal in Nassau County, New York

Raccoons are adorable animals.  Nevertheless, they’re less than cute should they become occupants of your attic in Nassau County, Long Island. In this situation, the critters are pests and need to be removed.  Raccoons are wild animals that will do damage to your home as well as damage the landscaping. They can also bring unwanted parasites, such as fleas, into your house.  Raccoons carry diseases, such as rabies and leptospirosis, which can be given to your own pets. So, they must be humanely trapped by Nassau County Pest Control Professionals.
A Licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator will identify how the raccoons are entering your home in Nassau County, Long Island. If you plan to remove the raccoons yourself, you need to be aware of the laws concerning raccoon removal in New York.  In New York State, it is illegal for a homeowner to trap and relocate wildlife under New York State Environmental Conservation Law 11-0511.  Whether you have raccoons in the attic, fireplace, chimney, or under your deck, you need to hire a licensed pest control trapper to remove the raccoons from your premises. Should your home or garage become inhabited by raccoons in the Spring, chances are the unwanted visitor is a pregnant female raccoon.  Therefore, it is imperative that the wildlife trapper search for raccoon pups when doing a Long Island raccoon removal from your premises in the Spring.   If raccoon pups are present, it may become necessary for the pest control experts to cut open a ceiling or a wall to remove them.
Our animal control experts have found repellents such as Critter Ridder and Shake Away Animal Repellant to be ineffective when it comes to getting rid of raccoons.  Mothballs, ammonia, bleach, coyote urine, loud radios, and ultrasonic high-pitch sound emitting devices are ineffective when removing raccoons from an attic.  There is no quick fix or magic spray when it comes to raccoon control and wildlife removal from your home in Nassau County.  Therefore, you must hire a licensed wildlife trapper to remove the raccoons from your home in Nassau County, Long Island.  At DQ Pest Control, our pest control specialists have the necessary equipment, skills, and expertise to remove rabies vector animals, such as raccoons.