Bonus at the end of the post
There is no rule that says evil cannot also be cunning and resourceful.
Imagine you are home with your family, pets and belongings; outside is a wild animal in obvious distress and will not leave. There is no place for you to go without confronting the animal outside. What would you do?
The animal might be of the size and specie that doesn’t represent a threat, but you know it’s number three on the list of vectors for rabies. Or number two or one.
You might deduce that what is outside is a rabid animal.
Some things to know: when symptoms present, the mortality rate of rabies is 100percent. That’s high. Rabies travels through blood, saliva, tissue. Once entering the new host’s body, it moves ever so certainly through to the brain (slower in the winter, faster in the spring) where it reaps havoc with fever, dehydration and rage - oh, rage!
If the host animal has teeth and claws, its final impulse will be to bite and scratch. It will attack, not under its own impulses, but those of the viral entity now in control.
All life must procreate to survive, and rabies is no different despite the controversy surrounding whether or not it is even a living entity - there is no consensus. There is consensus about this: in order to survive and procreate, rabies must seek another host before the current one dies; its survival is short lived when exposed to the open environment. If even a tiny amount of blood, saliva or tissue enters an open wound of any size or is ingested, the interface is completed, and rabies lives on.
Knowing this, now what would you do about the animal outside?
Seems everyone knows there is a vaccine for rabies; it’s even administered without charge in most emergency rooms in America. But time is of the essence before symptoms present.
Seems lots of people have heard the story of the one person who survived rabies after symptoms presented. If you research the treatment for that woman, and her outcome, let me know if you consider it a happy ending.
The question remains. What would you do with the animal outside?
Animals can be dangerous, even when they don’t seem so, even when they don’t have dangerous intention, even if it happens to be a beloved pet or a harmless kitten.
During my lifetime there were appalling epidemics of rabies, the most common vector being dogs. Euthanizing, spaying and neutering millions of dogs largely removed them from top of the list, along with mandated vaccination. Still, if an unvaccinated dog opens a wound in a human and it is reported, the USDA along with Animal Control will take the dog for testing - which requires euthanizing it.
Today in my part of the World the list goes like this: number 1. are raccoons, number 2. are skunks, number 3. are cats. You might find cats to be a bit unnerving considering there’s a good chance of one being not too far away, but it’s true, and feral cats are common, and they are wild.
Now what would you do with the animal outside?
Having always easily escaped rabid animals while travelling on foot myself, the realities came glaringly home when rabies made her appearance here on the farm. One of the feral cats we were so kindly feeding and caring for turned up with a wound on its tail; since cat fights usually result in head and neck injuries, we took the precaution of quarantining it. The offending skunk showed up the following morning walking right into the front room in broad daylight. Bruno lunged for it and as he was being restrained the skunk took a parting shot and exited the door but refused to leave. Despite shooting it with 20caliber pellets, snap shots with target arrows and anything else close at hand, the skunk continued to advance on me - it just wanted to bite. Finally, it expired by blunt trauma, which was a good thing since there was no blood, if there were blood it must be avoided for at least 24hrs and even then, take precaution to avoid contact.
How do we know if an animal has contracted rabies? By reporting it. The USDA will then direct you to the nearest lab facility for testing which in my case was Harrisburg, PA, three hours away. It is there that it tested positive. A drop point open 24hrs and a busy place even at 3:00am where the carcass is left bagged and tagged for results. After that USDA will send a field agent to ensure any other animals in contact with the injured one are secured. Since all the cats shared food and water, they were suspect. You are given two options: quarantine for 120days (that’s roughly 4 months!) while wearing personal protective equipment during all feeding and watering, posting warnings and creating a keep-out area; or destroy, and USDA has no qualms about telling you their preference.
We still feed feral cats here, at least in the winters although we discourage them from hanging around the house during warmer weather. We are also diligent while watching for unusual behavior or injury. We also consider that approach to be somewhat risky behavior on our part, so in addition we take steps to keep the feral cat population in check. We’ll not comment on methods, save the following.
Throughout human history it was the hunter/warrior that protected and provided for the family unit. A sacred duty, killing was not discussed in the presence of women or children. If you have no desire to witness what happens in the order of putting that burger into your bun, or what provides for your security, then maybe you can extend a bit of understanding into why that might be.
Since the hunter/warrior has historically been primarily male, killing, when discussed, was done only among the men of their community. Probably for good reason.
When the folkways, mores and traditions of a society are stirred up and overturned, bad things are going to happen.
Exhibit A: a national news story emerged recently regarding the shooting of a dangerous dog that appeared in print authored by the current Governor of South Dakota, who was a vice-presidential hopeful. A callus media machine immediately fired volley after volley accusing the Governor of cruelty and unfit for service resulting in a verdict of guilty in the court of public opinion - a character assassination that sullied the Governor’s reputation and dashed all hope for an administrative role.
This is a Governor who has served their state well, and whose only mistake might very well be having been born female, as this particular Governor is a woman. As a man, the topic in question might never have reached public awareness.
This will not sit well with a lot of people; but since the boundaries that define men, women, children, gender, ideology, thought on and on have been blurred to the extent of dehumanization - they can go pound sand - it will do them as much good.
The very same question goes to them: what will they do with the animal outside?
Exhibit B: have you any memory of the years since 2019? What if the animal outside is a viral entity released by accident or design to span the globe as a pandemic. As it rages through the population causing death and mayhem by over reactive central planners, what you will do then is already demonstrated to the glee of the power brokers and tyrants. This is a dangerous precedent and has altered our trajectory forever. Not funny.
It’s been mentioned here before that patterns are predictable, and criminals will broadcast their intentions in advance.
BONUS: copyrighted and first recorded Jul 9, 2016, years before the Covid19 event.
Hey there all you technocrats
There’s a new virus in town
If you hear her name
We suggest that you
Just don’t be aroundThere’ll be no survival
When she gets a hold on you
Let go of hope
There’ll be nothing we can doWhen she’s at your door
Wearing love as her disguise
Spreading her disease
With her parabolic eyesThen you’ll see her on the TV
You’ll see her on the web
You’ll hear her on the radio
Yea she’ll get inside your headSo quarantine your families
Quarantine your pets
When she comes around she’ll take care of you
And she’ll never have regretsHey there all you technocrats
There’s a new virus in town
When you hear her name
We suggest that you
Just don’t be around
Her name
Is Rabies
Good article considering they put down the beloved tictok squirrel today. When we were children we were always collecting stray animals. The pain of stepping on nails is what I remember. Or the occasional turtle clamped on my nose.
Great song!