Woman rescues baby raccoon, inadvertently exposes 20 friends to rabies

A baby raccoon peers out from behind a tree. A baby raccoon peers out from behind a tree. Photo: Kathy Caruthers, Waverly | Reader Photo Photo: Kathy Caruthers, Waverly | Reader Photo Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Woman rescues baby raccoon, inadvertently exposes 20 friends to rabies 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

Frankly, we never found raccoons — those masked bandits that try to break into our garbage bins on nights before collection — that endearing.

Now baby raccoons — they are kind of cute. But you should never handle one or bring one home, not even if it appears to have been abandoned by its mother.

A Colorado woman learned that lesson the hard way.

She found what she thought was an orphaned raccoon on her property in Weld County north of Denver and brought it into her house, according to the Greeley Tribune. Soon her friends found out, and suddenly everyone wanted to see the baby. Eventually 20 friends dropped over to gawk at the little critter.

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Unfortunately, the raccoon tested positive for rabies on Monday. Now the woman and her 20 pals must all get "post-exposure prophylaxis" against the disease which, left untreated, can be fatal.

Typically, rabies is passed from animals to humans through bites, but it's possible to contract it if the animal's saliva touches a wound or even a small scratch on a person.

None of the 21 people exposed has come down with the disease yet. A vaccination is very effective in treating rabies if the vaccine is administered before symptoms appear.

According to the Tribune, the county Department of Public Health and Environment learned about the case from an animal shelter the woman had contacted in the hope that it could take the animal. The shelter declined and called the the public health department, which in turn asked the woman if they could test it for rabies.

Wildlife authorities say you should never touch or get too close to a wild animal even if appears to be an orphaned baby. Often the parents are nearby, but they might not return to the infant if humans are nearby.