MARIPOSA COUNTY — A gray fox in El Portal recently died from rabies. Any mammal can get rabies, but bats, feral cats, raccoons, foxes and skunks are more likely to get sick with rabies.
Do not approach, touch, handle, or attempt to feed wildlife or any unfamiliar animals. Never adopt or bring wild animals into your home. Report sick, dead, or strangely acting wildlife immediately.
Discourage wild animals from around your home by:
- Keeping garbage in closed containers and not leaving uneaten pet food out.
- Sealing holes or gaps in your home where bats and other animals could enter.
- Ensuring that all pet dogs are up-to-date on rabies vaccinations.
- Keeping pets indoors or on leashes and, if possible, keep cats exclusively indoors.
- Eliminating attractants such as ripe fruit in local trees.
- Ensuring pets are restrained and under your control when taken off of your property.
Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Division is offering a special low cost rabies vaccination clinic at the El Portal Clark Community Hall on Sunday, Oct. 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information call 209-966-3615.
Report sick or injured wildlife to the Wildlife Management Office by calling 372-0476 or emailing yose_bear_mgmt@nps.gov. You can also call Yosemite Dispatch at 209-372-0476.
For more information go to http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Pages/rabies.aspx or call Matthew Weinburke at 379-1209.
(Reprinted from the Yosemite Daily Report, written by Matthew Weinburke)
