And while raccoons should always be treated with respect and kindness, people really need to stop inviting them into their homes. In both cases, local wildlife officials urged people to not touch or go near wild animals, both for their own safety and for the good of the animals. Rabies is just one reason to avoid brazenly bringing wild animals, known to sometimes carry the disease, into your home, but as those two recent cases demonstrate, it’s a major one. That doesn’t mean you need to fly into a panic about seeing raccoons or other wildlife in your neighborhood. Statistically, most raccoons do not have rabies, and raccoons being active in the daytime doesn’t mean they’re rabid.

Source: Huffington Post August 22, 2018 16:41 UTC