Saturday, April 23, 2011

This Could have been bad

Telephone caller: "Hi, would it be possible to get rabies shots there?"
Me: "For humans or animals?" (I wasn't being a wise ass, really)

A while later, a woman came in who stated that she had been bitten by a skunk; well, that got my interest.

The middle-aged woman had been raking in her back yard and didn't notice the mangy, dirty skunk until it was right beside her.  At that point, she was too afraid to move and scare it into spraying her.  Unbelievably, the skunk sort of rolled on her foot; then bit it.  It wandered off and then sprayed.

Not normal skunk behavior for sure, and it occurred at 4 PM when it was still daylight. 

Fortunately, the patient was wearing a heavy boot at the time; the skunk never broke the skin, luckily for her.  She skated off without getting rabies prophylaxis after our doc got some advice from the state Board of Health.

The skunk was not found according to police.