Bats

Skunks wandering in plain daylight? You better walk the other way...no matter how friendly they look.

I lived in a smallish, mostly farming/college city in southwest Ohio back in '90 - '92.
The first summer I was there, skunks were literally everwhere, including my suburban neighborhood. Even though they were quite visible at night, it certainly was not uncommon to see them walking down the street in broad daylight, even in the small downtown district during business hours. Downtown business were up in arms and it was the talk of the whole community.
Every night, skunk stench filled the air once darkness fell. My Husky killed 5 skunks inside our fenced backyard in 2 months that first summer; some at night, others during the day. It really was horrendous, and as I recall at least 8 or more were killed by officials and tested positive.
Ah, good times ... LOL

That said, I'll take over population of bats to skunks any day!

~ Laura Bolt

There are details to consider with the rabies related deaths. If an individual is bit by a dog and they think it might be rabid, they will be treated for it. If a person is bit by a skunk or a racoon, it is a no brainer that they will be treated for it. So the number of rabies related deaths versus the number of actual exposures to rabid animals is very low.

On the other hand, if you are spelunking(caving) and you have a bat fly into your head, you most likely arnt going to go seek post-exposure rabies vaccination. You may not even notice if the bat broke the skin.

I have one 5 year old Male Straw Colored Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum) for $3000 plus $250 to ship him. BUT I will not ship to any location with restrictions against them… I will not risk having an animal destroyed. I can work with you on this if you are serious… but keep in mind you will need a large walk in enclosure about 6ft by 6ft to properly house these him. Also, they live as long as 25yrs, be sure you are willing to make the commitment since you will not be able to sell these without a USDA license.

I will not sell any animals to anyone under the age of 18, period. You must be an adult to purchase this animal.

Check with your state DNR before contacting me, start laying the ground work.

Oh, these are CAPTIVE BRED/RASIED, not wild caught animals.

Originally Posted by lucille

Yes. All mammals can transmit rabies. [/url]

i know this is an older post, but that's not true. animals with very slow metabolisms can't acquire or transmit rabies. the virginia opossum is one example. it's really interesting

Richard,

I'm not sure where you got your information from but a quick search yielded this results:

Many people now fear Virginia Opossums becaue of the Rabies Virus, however opossums are not common carriers of the disease. Virginia Opossums can get rabies (like all mammals), but do not typically pass it on to others. Normally opossums are very shy of people and avoid them. They sometimes raid garbage cans at night for food. Overall, Virginia Opossums are very helpful by cleaning up dead animals, and by controlling rodent and insect populations. Some people eat them, and their fur is used to make clothing. Many opossums are killed on roads each year as they try to eat roadkills.

Opossums are very resistant to rabies and have far fewer cases of rabies than any other common wild animal in United States.

Regards,

Originally Posted by The BoidSmith

Richard,

I'm not sure where you got your information from but a quick search yielded this results:
Regards,

the OSUS will simply say that they "can get rabies but it's extremely rare". thing is there is no confirmed case of one having rabies ever. as was previously mentioned, every single "occurrence" comes from a bite that was treated as a precautionary measure. if you speak with people from that organization off record, they'll say as much and also tell you that no, they do not get rabies but they'd rather not risk being sued, so they simply say it's possible.

i have kept opossums as pets and most, if not all states don't even require a rabies shot. they have a cooler body temp (mid 90's), a very slow metabolism and they are a unique animal in a few other ways too.

Originally Posted by richardduckworth

the OSUS will simply say that they "can get rabies but it's extremely rare". thing is there is no confirmed case of one having rabies ever. as was previously mentioned, every single "occurrence" comes from a bite that was treated as a precautionary measure. if you speak with people from that organization off record, they'll say as much and also tell you that no, they do not get rabies but they'd rather not risk being sued, so they simply say it's possible.

i have kept opossums as pets and most, if not all states don't even require a rabies shot. they have a cooler body temp (mid 90's), a very slow metabolism and they are a unique animal in a few other ways too.

Gotcha. I've also kept them as pets years ago. They are amazing animals. Mine were always animals captured around the house where I lived. We had a fig tree and every now and then they would be up there in the branches eating them, they love them when they are really ripe.

I've also kept Lutreolina crassicaudata (common name in Spanish is the equivalent to "big red weasel" and Monodelphis dimidiata or "small red weasel") Monodelphis is the size of a large mouse and a tremendous predator on. They make very interesting pets.

Regards.