Milton WV raccoons not rabid ....just drunk on fermented crabapples.
The police department in a West Virginia town told its residents that the "rabid" raccoons they had reported seeing in their area in recent days were not rabid but drunk on fermented crab apples.
The Milton Police Department wrote on its social media profile that two officers had been forced to take a masked bandit into custody earlier this week with the assistance of several neighborhood residents.
We have had calls [of] suspected rabid raccoons twice over the last two days, the department said in a short Facebook post. Turns out they appear to be drunk on crab apples.
It noted that another officer had caught a raccoon on Sunday with the help of the city street department. It asked the public not to touch the animalsjust to report them.
Todays culprit was on Mason Street, and it was a community effort, police said Monday. Both raccoons were released near the woods unharmed. If you see a staggering and disoriented raccoon, please do not approach it. It could be sick so call us and well take care of it.
https://www.newsweek.com/rabid-raccoons-are-just-drunk-west-virginia-police-say-1215143