View Full Version : Rabid Raccoon
The Phoenix
06-25-2009, 01:12
I am currently off the trail for 28 days. Last night I got bit... in my damn cranium... as I was sleeping by a raccoon. Underwent my first treatment this morning and flew home to CT for a few weeks.:eek:
I am not too pleased... but there is nothing I can do other than go with it. It was at Pine Knob Shelter in MD. I will probably be doing some trail magic on the trail in CT to stay busy and not miss the trail too much.
Any suggestions on how to finish... should I flip up to Maine? I've been averaging about 20 miles a day and made it through VA in a month... but I doubt I'll be doing that type of mileage through the rocks of PA in my crocs. I don't know if I could make the remaining 1000+ miles before October...
It's a bummer... but it's just a speed bump in the big picture. No biggy:banana
Godspeed
-The Rabid Phoenix-
CrumbSnatcher
06-25-2009, 01:23
I am currently off the trail for 28 days. Last night I got bit... in my damn cranium... as I was sleeping by a raccoon. Underwent my first treatment this morning and flew home to CT for a few weeks.:eek:
I am not too pleased... but there is nothing I can do other than go with it. It was at Pine Knob Shelter in MD. I will probably be doing some trail magic on the trail in CT to stay busy and not miss the trail too much.
Any suggestions on how to finish... should I flip up to Maine? I've been averaging about 20 miles a day and made it through VA in a month... but I doubt I'll be doing that type of mileage through the rocks of PA in my crocs. I don't know if I could make the remaining 1000+ miles before October...
It's a bummer... but it's just a speed bump in the big picture. No biggy:banana
Godspeed
-The Rabid Phoenix-
you don't need to flip so early?DECIDE LATER ONCE YOU GET NEAR HOME IN CONN.once you start hiking again? one year i was still in the middle of the shenny's july 4th and finished 1st week of oct. are you hiking the whole trail in croc's? doing some 20's you'll catchup quick! you must of had some peanutbutter on your face or something:-? hope ya get better
Blissful
06-25-2009, 16:17
See how it goes, but I think you'll have time to finish by October. You're young too. If it gets close, you can always summit first then go back and finish the trail where you left off.
And I get some trail runners for PA. :)
Anyway, get well soon. Sorry to hear this.
you could day hike all of NJ, CT, MA and NY while you're waiting out the month... slack pack treat! would that work?
That's a terrible bit of bad luck! In terms of returning to the trail, see how you feel. You may lose some fitness, and just plain feel bad as a result of the bite and the treatment, or maybe not.
Of course, I'll always vote for going SOBO...
PS--PA is not that hard. With a couple of notable exceptions, it's remarkably flat. I doubt the rocks will cause you much trouble.
Is the raccoon still alive and a danger to others? Are the local health/police/game officials aware of this?
Blissful
06-25-2009, 22:40
Wonder if its the rabid racoon that hitched from the Sam Moore shelter that nearly attacked me a few years back. That thing was crazy.
Wonder if its the rabid racoon that hitched from the Sam Moore shelter that nearly attacked me a few years back. That thing was crazy.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, it was undoubtedly not the same raccoon. Rabies is fatal.
To quote from Wikipedia:
Once the infection reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin to show, the untreated infection is usually fatal within days.
The Swiss vaccinated all their foxes to stamp out rabies there.
Tipi Walter
06-25-2009, 23:04
This is a very sad tale. For all my years of cowboy/bedroll camping out in the open, I've been lucky. One time a skunk stuck his head into my tent and I was laying down and our eyes met. Another time a coyote run thru camp about 10 feet away. Another time a sick raccoon came up to a ridge I was camping on in the middle of winter and it was in poor shape. I gave it a little shelter to curl up in and fed it nuts and water. It died about 3 days later. Rabid? Parvo? Who knows.
When people bring up how much they like the AT shelter system, I'll remember this story. Let's hear it for tents.
World-Wide
06-26-2009, 10:20
I am currently off the trail for 28 days. Last night I got bit... in my damn cranium... as I was sleeping by a raccoon. Underwent my first treatment this morning and flew home to CT for a few weeks.:eek:
I am not too pleased... but there is nothing I can do other than go with it. It was at Pine Knob Shelter in MD. I will probably be doing some trail magic on the trail in CT to stay busy and not miss the trail too much.
Any suggestions on how to finish... should I flip up to Maine? I've been averaging about 20 miles a day and made it through VA in a month... but I doubt I'll be doing that type of mileage through the rocks of PA in my crocs. I don't know if I could make the remaining 1000+ miles before October...
It's a bummer... but it's just a speed bump in the big picture. No biggy:banana
Godspeed
-The Rabid Phoenix-
You think you have it bad, the raccoons here in Okinawa, Japan are bad-asses! Bites are better than beheadings!! :eek: Best of luck finishing the trail! :) W-W
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh8/ThePRK562/up%20lifting/SamuraiRaccon.jpg
Blissful
06-26-2009, 12:13
That's pretty funny. :)
Last night I got bit... in my damn cranium... as I was sleeping by a raccoon.
Godspeed
-The Rabid Phoenix-
Next time... don't sleep by a raccoon. :p
Man, that really bites! ;)
Next time... don't sleep by a raccoon. :p
he was sleeping with it not by
double d
06-26-2009, 14:24
Phoenix, sorry to hear of your injury, damn things are sneakie, I had one "attack" me once in my own damn backyard (he was hiding next to a garbage can). Maybe you should tent the rest of your thru-hike, but thats just my opinion and it doesn't mean much. At least you have one heck of a story to tell your grandkids someday!
World-Wide
06-27-2009, 02:29
Phoenix, sorry to hear of your injury, damn things are sneakie, I had one "attack" me once in my own damn backyard (he was hiding next to a garbage can). Maybe you should tent the rest of your thru-hike, but thats just my opinion and it doesn't mean much. At least you have one heck of a story to tell your grandkids someday!
Of course your opinion matters!! :D
Sorry about your bad luck man. This here is Bluegrass by the way. Hope you get back out on the trail soon.
Next time... don't sleep by a raccoon. :p
Dito, racoons don't cuddle:D
Nasty Dog Virus
07-12-2009, 00:03
Is the raccoon still alive and a danger to others? Are the local health/police/game officials aware of this?
I just got into Harpers Ferry today. Hiked SOBO from Pen Mar. I ran into the PATC Ridgerunner the 1st two days. Didn't get his name but he was the same Ridgerunner who helped Phoenix get off the trail and get medical attention. Nice guy with good info on which springs were flowing and which weren't. He warned me about the Pine Knob Shelter. I didn't stay there though, ended up at Dahlgren Campsite that night.
HIKERJEN
07-14-2009, 16:09
How do you know it was rabid?
drastic_quench
07-14-2009, 17:15
I was inoculated for rabies last year. The shots aren't bad at all. I wasn't even sore.
Kerosene
07-14-2009, 20:14
How do you know it was rabid?You don't know for sure unless you can capture the critter and have them evaluated. Otherwise, you go through the rabies shots just to be sure.
HIKERJEN
07-14-2009, 23:28
I just wondered, since the thread title is Rabid Raccoon, if the raccoon had actually been caught- the animal isn't necessarily rabid just because it bit a person!
How do you know it was rabid?
Anything that would bite The Phoenix has to be rabid:D
ShelterLeopard
07-20-2009, 10:31
I am currently off the trail for 28 days. Last night I got bit... in my damn cranium... as I was sleeping by a raccoon. Underwent my first treatment this morning and flew home to CT for a few weeks.:eek:
I am not too pleased... but there is nothing I can do other than go with it. It was at Pine Knob Shelter in MD. I will probably be doing some trail magic on the trail in CT to stay busy and not miss the trail too much.
Any suggestions on how to finish... should I flip up to Maine? I've been averaging about 20 miles a day and made it through VA in a month... but I doubt I'll be doing that type of mileage through the rocks of PA in my crocs. I don't know if I could make the remaining 1000+ miles before October...
It's a bummer... but it's just a speed bump in the big picture. No biggy:banana
Godspeed
-The Rabid Phoenix-
PA actually isn't that bad- I bet you'll have not much trouble pulling down big miles once you get back in hiking mode.
The Phoenix
07-23-2009, 08:49
Got my last shot yesterday :)
In a few days... around 10-15... I'll be swingin up to Maine... finishing my thru-hike at the scene of the raccoon. Can't wait to get after it again... every morning I wake up wishing I was in the Mountains.
Godspeed
-The Phoenix-
take-a-knee
07-23-2009, 11:59
You don't know for sure unless you can capture the critter and have them evaluated. Otherwise, you go through the rabies shots just to be sure.
"Evaluate" means chop their head off and send it to a lab to determine if the animal's brain was positive for negri bodies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFZ5ORMW3M
Had to be done...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFZ5ORMW3M
Had to be done...
Clearly.
-->Hmm...I guess brevity is frowned upon at WB. Can't post anything less than ten characters. Learn something every day.<--
Snowleopard
07-26-2009, 22:17
There are rabid raccoons in MA and NH and probably other northern states, so be careful. The raccoon population around my house in Worcester dropped substantially when rabies hit there.
Saw this in the news and remenber this post...
LAKELAND, Florida - Animal control officers hope to trap a pack of raccoons that mauled a 74-year-old woman who tried to chase them from her yard. The sheriff in Polk County, east of Tampa, said Gretchen Whitted fell when five raccoons surrounded and attacked her Sunday. She was taken to a hospital with extensive cuts from her neck to her legs. "We're not talking about a lot of little bites here," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She was filleted." A neighbor called for help after hearing the woman's cries and seeing her covered in blood.
Old Grouse
10-05-2009, 12:06
Same thing happened to Sleeveless a few years ago. Check out her trailjournal for the story.
Saw this in the news and remenber this post...
LAKELAND, Florida - Animal control officers hope to trap a pack of raccoons that mauled a 74-year-old woman who tried to chase them from her yard. The sheriff in Polk County, east of Tampa, said Gretchen Whitted fell when five raccoons surrounded and attacked her Sunday. She was taken to a hospital with extensive cuts from her neck to her legs. "We're not talking about a lot of little bites here," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She was filleted." A neighbor called for help after hearing the woman's cries and seeing her covered in blood.
Good argument for a shotgun.
Racoons are nasty little critters, but any animals in the wild can get rabies. My dads advice years ago, was,
If a wild animal ever starts walking toward you or acting odd, its probably got rabies.
Of course of you are alsleep you would never see it.
I figured geez, when am I ever going to see a wild animal walk straight towards me.
Well after 20 or so years it happened. About 3 years ago I was out hunting, walking back to have breakfast and there was a gray fox about 10-15 yards away in a dirt road. He looked at me, then started trotting straight towards me. I yelled at him and stomped my feet. He stopped, about 15 feet away and acted like he did not know what to do. Very odd, he was bobbing left and right circling and finally turned around and walked off looking back every now and then.
As much as I like to sleep under the stars, this story is probably a good reason to sleep in a tent or a hammock.
That said my dads neighbor got mauled by a 1500# bull that was loose in the woods. It had been loose for about 2-3 years. Very cut up and foaming at the mouth.
After he got mauled and thrown around for a while, he managed to get back to his truck and got his rifle, and put it down.
Ended up having to have neck surgery.
warraghiyagey
10-05-2009, 19:49
http://weblogs.cltv.com/entertainment/tv/metromix/cujo%202.jpg
Wise Old Owl
10-05-2009, 23:12
Wow Sorry Warg - not funny. Rabies is not funny Phoenix sorry to hear the bad news but be glad we have a preventative. Had it gone long enough the 2nd idea was far worse... Glad you are ok!
http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/misc/jeannagiese.html
warraghiyagey
10-05-2009, 23:21
Woops. . . I didn't read the whole thread. . . :o