Rabies

[Hills of Texas]

It’s that time of year again and rabies are spreading quickly. I killed a huge gray fox in the yard last night that had no fear of me or the dog. Didn’t look hungry but wasn’t acting right so it got a dirt nap. Just a reminder. Llano leads the state in rabies from what I’m told and I know they have been posting signs around town on confirmed cases. If a critters not acting right, don’t risk fooling with it and don’t try to take it to the taxidermist… lol. Be safe out there.

[Deer Tracks]

Vaccinate your pets! One year I dispatched and had 3 skunks picked up by Llano County and all three had rabies. Skunk, fox and bats are the top 3 reservoir species harboring rabies in Texas. It is believed that Travis, Willimason, Hays, Burnet and Llano counties remain the top most rabid counties in Texas because of the large bat populations.

[justletmein]

Interesting, we had a bat on our quail hutch the other night when I went out there. He flew a few feet over and landed on a tripod leg but didn't seem to have any fear of us taking pictures of it. I didn't think much of it and we went inside, bat was gone the next morning.

[BlackHogDown]

Good PSA. Are some parts of the state more "immune" to rabies? Should we be as concerned way down South as you are in llano? Forgive my ignorance...

[Bowhica]

Hunted the Llano area for almost 12 years and gladly we never had any issues on our place.

[Hills of Texas]

Good PSA. Are some parts of the state more "immune" to rabies? Should we be as concerned way down South as you are in llano? Forgive my ignorance...

I have no idea why it’s so predominant here other than the reason stated above. I just know it’s a real concern in this area. Stray cats around town come down with it pretty regular in the summer months.

[Deer Tracks]

There is a direct correlation between rabies prevalence and population of bats. All areas in Texas with known large bat colonies have a higher prevalence of rabies. Bats are the largest reservoir, followed by skunk and fox. All of those hill country counties within 1.5 hours of Austin have high populations of all three species ...and a lot of humans...which means more stray domestic animals and more rabies reporting.