Some People in Iowa Town Terrorized by Food

[Uomo Senza Nome]

Could not find a good place to put this as there is no hunting page. For my part, 5 Seconds with an air pistol and General Woundwort is on the table.

This is good to note that in a survival situation some people don't understand where food comes from.

Dangerous rabbit 'terrorizing' Iowa neighborhood (nypost.com)

[Anianna]

That is atypical behavior for a rabbit and rabies is a legitimate concern.  Two things stand out to me, though:

Rustan said she was "not worried about rabies because, when it bit me, you know, I didn't see it frothing at the mouth or anything like that."

This is a reckless take.  An infected animal, if it presents with foaming at the mouth at all, doesn't necessarily foam at the mouth for the entire duration of the illness.  If this woman presents with symptoms, it will be too late for her. 

But even more reckless...

Police finally caught the bad-tempered rodent on Friday and took it to the local wastewater treatment plant where it was then released.

Proper procedure when a wild mammal is behaving both atypically and aggressively and had made direct contact with individuals is to test it for rabies to identify the risk to the public and make sure victims receive proper treatment before it's too late.  It's now free to potentially infect more animals creating a greater danger to the public. 


That aside, notice how the Post puts "terrorizing" in quotes?  Yea, that publication tends to be inflammatory and generally exaggerates.  The only person they interviewed who had a valid reason to be scared wasn't even worried enough.   

[Raptor]

I have to agree with this

This is a reckless take.  An infected animal, if it presents with foaming at the mouth at all, doesn't necessarily foam at the mouth for the entire duration of the illness.  If this woman presents with symptoms, it will be too late for her. 

But even more reckless...

Police finally caught the bad-tempered rodent on Friday and took it to the local wastewater treatment plant where it was then released.

Proper procedure when a wild mammal is behaving both atypically and aggressively and had made direct contact with individuals is to test it for rabies to identify the risk to the public and make sure victims receive proper treatment before it's too late.  It's now free to potentially infect more animals creating a greater danger to the public. 

I agree with this assessment of the matter. Rabies is rare in rabbits but since they are prey animals that is not unexpected and they may be under counted.
An infected rabbit is more likely to be consumed than say a dog.
It would have been more prudent to dispatch the rabbit humanely and test it for rabies. This activity exposed many people to rabies IF the rabbit was infected. Rabies is not something to play around with or take lightly.

The people involved still have time to go get a rabies vaccine. That would be may advice.
  https://www.healthline.com/health/vaccinations/rabies-vaccine#how-many-doses

[Uomo Senza Nome]

My understanding was that it was going on for a few weeks. Most animals will be in pretty bad shape after a couple of weeks with rabies, notably so.

[Anianna]

My understanding was that it was going on for a few weeks. Most animals will be in pretty bad shape after a couple of weeks with rabies, notably so.

It can take about two weeks for symptoms to show up in the first place.  When we had our farm, there were a couple of cats we had to put in rabies quarantine when they came into our care and they had to go into quarantine for a minimum of ten days, but our vet recommended two weeks to account for delayed symptoms.

[majorhavoc]

That is atypical behavior for a rabbit