Rabid Fox Alert

[fotogirl53]

Flagstaff media is reporting several rabid fox encounters in the area of Mount Elden, including the Fat Mans Loop, Elden Springs and Elden Lookout Trails. After attacking people and dogs on these trails, at least 2 foxes have been captured and tested positive for rabies, after attacking people and dogs. The area will be patrolled and off-leash dogs will result in the owner's getting fined. Hikers were advised to avoid this area until the rabies outbreak is handled.

[te_wa]

The area will be patrolled and off-leash dogs will result in the owner's getting fined

well, its about time

[hippiepunkpirate]

Interesting info! I was thinking about doing Fatman's Loop this morning as a matter of fact. I'm going to Vegas for a couple days, hopefully it's under control by the time I get back. Keep us updated!

[Jim]

Did they elaborate exactly, on how they plan to "handle" the rabies outbreak?
The dogs on a leash thing is good, but nearly unenforceable. Its not so much the heavily traveled areas near the lookout trail that are the problem, its the areas close to the base of Elden that people walk their dogs. A friend of mine lets his dogs off leash all the time. He takes them out and lets them run free around sunset nearly every evening, it wouldn't be hard to imagine where I'm going with that.

[big_load]

Hopefully rabies will give even the hard-core anti-leash people some second thoughts.

[Jim]

Well, its like the anti-seat belt people, there are those who will never wear them no matter what. I'm not opposed to off leash dogs the way a lot of people are, but I do think there is a time and a place for a leash that many people seem unable to observe. If I had to have my dogs off leash I would just take them to a place that few people went to. Thats really easy to do here, but not everywhere. I don't actually have dogs.

[chumley]

Really? There are anti-seat belt people? That seems just stupid, but I guess I don't really care, since a seat-belt only affects the person who chooses whether or not to use it. (Except the mourning loved ones after they die).

As for the dogs, I always prefer to have mine off-leash. Its more fun for me and for him. But I also always carry a leash and will use it whenever I see other people or dogs. But I also purposely avoid trails where I'm likely to encounter others. Its not worth it.

But it also helps to know your dog. For instance, mine is quite happy just going for a hike. When he sees a rabbit, deer, or whatever, he'll perk up a bit, but then decide its too much effort to chase it. Plus, I almost always see things which would interest him before he does, so its easy for me to keep him out of trouble. In fact, whenever I call him over to put his leash on, his first instinct is to look around to find what he's missing, and why I'm putting him on his leash!

So back to the rabid foxes ... I was wondering how a 5-10lb animal would ever think it was a good idea to attack a dog or a person who is so much larger than him. Well, obviously its the rabies virus that causes the unusual behavior. But I also read on Wiki (take for what its worth) that recent studies show that rabid foxes especially are prone calm, seemingly domesticated behavior. They'll approach people and populated neighborhood areas, and allow you to pet them. So, if you encounter a fox that doesn't seem to mind that you're there, its a sign of probable rabies since such behavior is absolutely not characteristic of a healthy fox.

[te_wa]

I petted a Fox once..
after she slapped me and said "get away from me, you jerk" i left her be.
Im going to try the same approch to a cougar, and see if she takes it better.

[JimmyLyding]

Watch out for them cougars.
I don't have a problem with off-leash dogs, but they'd better be well-behaved. If I'm walking a dog on a leash, and an unleashed dog comes up and starts sniffin' my dog then I'm going to drive off the unleashed one. Probably with a large stick.
It really frosts me when I encounter unleashed dogs in the Phx Mtn Preserve. I've given numerous tongue-lashings to idiots who let their dogs run loose in the preserve. I remember the lady who was walking her little Fifi in the Preserve w/out a leash, and little Fifi turned into lunch for Mr. Coyote. Her response was that we needed to kill the coyotes, and was an excellent indication of her relative level of intelligence.

[snakemarks]

I petted a Fox once..
after she slapped me and said "get away from me, you jerk" i left her be.
Im going to try the same approch to a cougar, and see is she takes it better.

You'll have to let us know how that works out for you!

[fotogirl53]

The news report state, "There have been reports of one aggressive fox located near the Grave Site and Elden Springs, near Mount Elden in Flagstaff. Three individuals reported encounters, including attempted attacks on people and pets.

Two people hiking near Elden were able to kick the fox away, but two dogs were attacked and are under quarantine as a result."

So much for rabid foxes being calm! They county health department is trying to determine if this outbreak is related to the skunk and bat rabies cases that have been in Flagstaff off and on for a long time.

I'm just going to avoid the Elden area--there's lots of other places to hike now that the weather is nice!

[hippiepunkpirate]

It probably won't deter me too much, I'll just carry a big stick!

[hippiepunkpirate]

The Daily Sun today says that the outbreak is going....and everybody else has big sticks too!

[hippiepunkpirate]

From today's Arizona Daily Sun

Rabies quarantine vote due today
Most of east, central and northwest Flagstaff would be off-limits to unleashed pets for three months as early as Wednesday.

By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Coconino County officials could decide today whether to implement a three-month lockdown for many Flagstaff pets while wildlife officials attempt to feed edible rabies vaccines to local gray foxes.

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider a three-month quarantine for local dogs and cats this morning, in an attempt to ensure only wild animals eat rabies vaccines distributed in the area. The vaccines have not proved effective in skunks but are proven to work in foxes. More than 20 wild animals in the county have tested positive for rabies since November, and there have been a handful of attacks by rabid animals on humans.

If approved, the quarantine could start Wednesday and last into early July. The area covers most of east, central and northwest Flagstaff.

But the Coconino County Health Department has yet to acquire the edible dog-food-coated vaccination packets loved by gray foxes.

"We're trying to limit the exposure by putting restrictions into place" before obtaining the vaccines, said Health Department Director Barbara Worgess.

It is unlikely rabies will be eradicated in Coconino County, but it is hoped that various efforts can make it less common, Worgess said.

[hippiepunkpirate]

Daily Sun update:

Pet quarantine begins


By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to enact restrictions on pets in much of Flagstaff while health workers attempt to vaccinate wild animals with rabies.

The quarantine that starts today requires pet owners living in some parts of Flagstaff to keep dogs and cats confined to home or on 6-foot leashes, and to avoid leaving pet food out after sundown. It is being enacted in the name of public safety, and to give wild animals the best chance of ingesting edible rabies vaccines to be scattered around town.

The quarantine order gives public health workers the right to go onto private property, but they will not enter fenced property or place a vaccine packet if the property owner objects.

The restrictions could last until July 7 if rabies cases continue at current rates, but will be up for review every month.

[BrettVet]

OK, I have to add my 2 cents here for two reasons. First, I am a Veterinarian and well qualified to speak on the issue of rabies. Secondly I was exposed to rabid animal and had to go through the rabies series of shots…. Which at the time was a 3 inch needle stabbed into the abdomen. I think they do that so if you die, you know the pain will stop and you won't care. Fortunately the rabies series of shots for humans is a lot better now. The weakest link in the chain of transmission of rabies to humans, believe it or not is you dog. Your dog chases something and gets out of your sight for a second and returns after a brief and unnoticed altercation with that rabid fox. OOPS.. Your dog has rabies and gets sick. Your veterinarian can miss the diagnosis of rabies because it can present with anything from a mild dull fever to the foaming kind that we all recognize fro the movies. The point of this is that ALL dogs and cats need to be vaccinated for rabies. Especially if you are taking them to areas that have wildlife. Contrary to popular opinion, we vaccinate dogs for rabies, not to protect you pet, but to prevent your dog from transmitting it to people.

The issue of off leash or not is one of basic trail etiquette. If you see another person or dog on the trail you put yours on a leash. I don’t care how nice or well behaved yours is. I have met people that are deathly afraid of my lovable golden retriever.

Lastly, if you love your dog, you’ll also get him vaccinated for distemper and parvo virus. Coyotes carry both. Neither disease is a pretty sight, deadly and easily preventable.

Sorry to sound so preachy, but every day I see people and their pets that have easily preventable diseases. I think I need a hike.....

[joebartels]

That's good to know, thanks

[Dschur]

From Prescott Courier

Fox attacks two hikers By Doug Cook, The Daily Courier

Sunday, May 03, 2009

PRESCOTT - Craig Leicht and Paul Janowski were enjoying their regular stroll along the three-mile loop of Prescott National Forest Trails 347 and 341 when a fox took a deadly interest in them.

At 6:45 p.m. Thursday, the Prescott neighbors were ending an otherwise routine hike on a trail near Granite Mountain, a mile west of Prescott's municipal boundary and little more than a mile away from their homes, when the male animal attacked them.

Thanks to a quick response, Leicht, who moved here from Texas in February, and Janowski fended off and killed what they think was a rabid fox close to the trails' far junction toward the bottom of a ravine. Neither of the men suffered bites or injuries.


"The fox appeared dazed, although he didn't have any froth in his mouth," said Janowski, 70, on Friday. "It was really weird, in a way."

An Arizona Game and Fish Department official hauled away the fox's body Friday morning and its frozen head will go to a state medical lab for testing Monday in Phoenix to determine whether it had rabies.

"The popular belief is that rabies tends to be cyclical in nature, and it's just running its course throughout that area," Game and Fish public information officer Zen Mocarski said. "Your odds of a wild animal encounter for the number of people that are outside still remains very low."

Thursday's incident was only one in a series of human vs. wild animal clashes during the past several months in Yavapai County, including the tri-city area.

"I looked ahead and saw something crouching on the trail, and I thought it was a bobcat in a hunched-down, crouching position," Leicht said Friday about the fox encounter. "It was probably about 100 feet ahead or maybe more, so I bent down and picked up a rock just to scare it. By the time I stood up, this thing was about five feet away from me."

Leicht, an anesthesiologist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center who lives in the Hokegon neighborhood off Iron Springs Road, about a mile west of Williamson Valley Road toward the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area, said he and Janowski were walking toward the latter's residence when the incident happened.

"I threw a 15- to 20-pound boulder at the fox and it bounced off his back," Leicht said. "I thought that would have deterred him, but he got up, came back at me, grabbed my pants leg, and I finally kicked him with my boot. He kept getting up and tried to attack again."

At that point, Leicht kicked the fox as hard as he could, flinging it into a tree. Leicht and Janowski subsequently ambushed the animal and stoned it to death.

"I was surprised he was so aggressive and that it would come at me at such a distance," Leicht said. "It was growling the whole way it was charging us. Once I kicked it a couple times, it would whimper and growl."

One of Leicht's neighbors plans to erect a homemade sign at the trailhead warning hikers about the possibility of having an encounter with a rabid animal.

Leicht recommends hikers carry hiking sticks and wear boots and long, baggy pants in case something happens.

"We didn't have sticks or anything," said Janowski, adding that he might start packing a .22-caliber pistol for safety when walking the trail. "It was very scary. I'm going to be very observant."

[azbackpackr]

Yikes!

[joebartels]

Somehow I don't think we're hearing the whole story...