The Suffolk County Department of Health Services shares this information regarding the rabies vaccination for dogs, cats, and ferrets.
Rabies, a deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the central nervous system, is most often seen among wild animals such as raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes, but any mammal can be infected with rabies. Pets and livestock can get rabies if they are not vaccinated to protect them against infection.
New York State and Suffolk County laws require that all dogs, cats, and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies. Vaccinating pets not only provides protection for the animals but also acts as a barrier to keep the rabies virus from spreading between wild animals and people. Three to six percent of bats tested annually are positive for rabies.
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services recommends the following precautions to protect your pets and your family from possible exposure to rabies:
- Do not feed, touch or approach wild animals, or stray dogs or cats.
- Be sure your pet dogs, cats and ferrets as well as horses and other livestock animals are up to date on their rabies vaccinations.
- Pets too young to be vaccinated should be kept indoors and allowed outside only under direct observation.
- Keep family pets indoors at night. Do not leave them outside unattended or let them roam free.
- Do not attract wild animals to your home or yard. Keep your property free of stored bird seed or other foods that may attract wild animals. Feed pets indoors. Tightly cover or put away garbage cans. Board up any openings to your attic, basement, porch or garage. Cap your chimney with screens.
- Do not transport or relocate any wild animals.
- Teach children not to touch any animal they do not know and to tell an adult immediately if they are bitten by any animal.
Techniques to keep bats from getting into buildings include:
- Not leaving unscreened doors or windows open to the outside
- Making sure windows have screens, chimneys are capped, and electrical and plumbing openings are plugged
- Sealing openings larger than 1/2 inch
- Using materials such as expanding spray-on foam, caulk, wire mesh, wood that fits tightly, steel wool (around pipes that enter buildings), or polypropylene bird netting, to seal or cover gaps and holes
Report all animal bites or contact with wild animals to the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-854-0333 weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or 631-852-4820 outside business hours. If possible, try to contain the animal so that it can be tested.
For more information on rabies, follow the links below:
- New York State Department of Health: https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/rabies/fact_sheet.htm
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/
Bats Eat Mosquitos!
The authorities don’t seem to agree on how many they eat in an hour or a night’s flight (somewhere between 1,000 and 4,500), but the fact remains, Bats help reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases!
And it doesn’t hurt to supply them with a place to linger on your property. There are a wide variety of bat boxes that can be purchased or built at home. Click on the image below to find directions for a popular design from The Wildlife Trusts.
