Tuesday, July 15, 2008

South Carolina: Marietta resident shoots suspected rabid fox

Marietta, South Carolina

From the Greenville News of July 15, 2008
Marietta resident shoots suspected rabid fox

Phillip Bowers said he believes a fox that lunged at him this morning outside his Marietta home was rabid, though he says he managed to shoot the fox in midair just before it reached him.

This morning, Bowers said he went outside and heard a fox clawing at the lattice that stretches across the bottom of the porch of his Marietta home near Hannon Road.

The fox emerged from underneath the porch and appeared to be "staggering" and his eyes were "blurry," Bowers said. "He was just skin and bones," he said, "and he had sores all over him."

Bowers said the fox growled at him and jumped toward him. Bowers, who had grabbed his 40-gauge shotgun when he heard the noise, said he shot the fox in midair about six feet from him.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control told Bowers to dispose of the fox himself because it was on private property and had not bitten him.

The danger of burying a possibly rabid fox and another animal contracting the disease is small, because a rabies virus dies within about 20 minutes after the animal dies, said Peden Cook, director of the Greenville County health department's general sanitation.

"The virus does not last long if the host animal is dead," Cook said.

No public services are available to remove dead animals from private property, Cook said, but health officials will come out and cut off the head of an animal that has bitten someone and will send it to Columbia to be tested for rabies. The disease is detected by examining brain tissue.

Foxes are out and about this time of year because it's breeding season and foxes are often gathering food for their young, Cook said.

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