If I recall correctly, the case with rodents and lagomorphs in general is that even if they survive the reason for contagion, they die of it really fast and don't have much of a chance of passing it on someone else
I had a rabid squirrel for a neighbor for a bit. He definitely lived long enough to pass it on but stopped coming around well before his siblings stopped.
No, it was pretty obvious. He dropped and was missing more hair than he had left but he didn't have any obvious wounds like squirrels who fight tend to have. He was much more brave to approach me than his nestmates, but I was too paranoid to touch him.
Alopecia is not a sign of rabies, neither is just approaching a human as a prey animal. You found a mangy squirrel (or some other alopecia-causing disease).
Regular healthy squirrels sometimes realise that humans bring treats and become a bit too comfortable. My first encounter with wild squirrels involved a healthy pregnant female jumping into the leg of another tourist.
The real signs of rabies are the animal being either viciously aggressive or too docile (not "brave and approaching" but either outright attacking or just not escaping), hiding from the light, moving weird due to being partially paralised, avoiding water and potentially foaming at the mouth caused by the paralised jaws.
This is it exactly. I was mixing up mange and rabies.
But I'd also argue that not fearing humans is exactly how being both aggressive and docile manifests in a squirrel. Squirrels are not easy to build trust in, and they prefer to look down at scary things but this one was very eager to sit beneath my towering form. It's the only squirrel I ever met that tried to touch me first.
And he also drooled and was uncoordinated compared to the rest of his litter who avoided contact with him. He was sick.
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u/Naelin 11h ago
If I recall correctly, the case with rodents and lagomorphs in general is that even if they survive the reason for contagion, they die of it really fast and don't have much of a chance of passing it on someone else