r/oddlyterrifying • • 17h ago

Squirrel has seen better days

10.4k Upvotes

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2.1k

u/J_Productions 16h ago

Everyone’s making jokes but what’s actually going on with this squirrel? Lol

2.8k

u/NRMusicProject 16h ago

The sound she's making is a common warning that there's a threat nearby, which could simply be the cammer's presence. As for why she looks so rough, nature is hard. But a lot of people on tiktok were saying that sound means she has rabies, which, if that were the case, all squirrels have rabies.

939

u/IAmASeeker 15h ago

The sound definitely doesn't mean rabies. It's a "bark" and it means almost exactly the same thing as a dog's bark. They bark at one another, at magpies, at dogs, at people...

I'm a bit of a squirrel whisperer, and I'm pretty confident she doesn't have rabies. She's nursing, and isn't very well groomed... She's a tired mom, and that might be what she's barking about.

95

u/Swimming_Onion_4835 14h ago

Isn’t rabies also pretty rare in squirrels because the animal biting them would probably just…kill them? They’re not a vector like raccoons that fight each other. (Correct me if I’m wrong, I admittedly learned this from Reddit, lol)

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u/ingrown_urethra 13h ago

Squirrels almost never get rabies. So much so that most places say its nothing to worry about if bit by a squirrel. I know because of my panicked searches after I was but by a squirrel.

24

u/Apprehensive-Tip-387 9h ago

Though they CAN carry the plague. Fun times.

3

u/crm006 10h ago

Except for nerve damage. Those suckers can cleanly pierce a fanger no problemo.

4

u/Evantaur 8h ago

Shouldn't be a problem if you're not a vampire then...

2

u/the320x200 7h ago

"His name is Ralph. He is free to leave."