Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / October 2007

Yesterday, two baby raccoons fell from the tree.  I had seen the
adults around from time to time, but this was the first for the
babies.  It seems that they fell from quite a hight.  They seem quite
young with eyes open, with a body size about the size of a large
potato.  Well stupid me touched them, kind of feeling their fur, and
maybe a petting or two.  At NO point did they bite or scratch me.
What are the chances of catching rabies from external hair touching.
After thinking about it for a bit, I realized I might have touched my
face or mouth sometime afterwards, but before washing my hands.  Last
night they stayed in a box I put out, but the mother never came.  They
were still here this evening.  The thing that really concerns me is
that the one baby would kind walk crawl towards me while chattering.
It would sometimes fall over and have problems getting up.  I did seem
to have issues walking.  Would this be due to young age, or a symptom
of rabies?  With three cats, I felt it safest to move them to another
set of woods.  I know that is harsh, but I am not sure what happened
to the mother.