I left out from my last post. I had a personal experience with a ferral cat....it attack without warning.....which lead to being harpooned with the full rabies series!!! I could not for the life of me figure out why anyone would stop clean up.

Did they actually have rabies <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />? OUCH for you <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />! I was bitten by a feral cat a few months ago, but I grabbed it and put it in my garage in lieu of a series of shots...luckily, it was perfectly healthy...just very angry. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I don't know if it did or didn't....it attacked and ran. I had all ready contacted the animal control people, my front yard looked like a Steve King novel, the pizza place refused to come to my house because the kid was chased by cats, my friend was on the hood of his truck because of the cats, they were attacking my dogs though the windows (even the dogs were afraid to go out!), they attacked us when we tried to leave, my front yard was a war zone, it was pretty funny at first. No one could figure out why the cats were at my house, I had dogs, and I kept them in doors, it wasn't like they were getting a free meal at my house! Animal control told me that I had to wait until next week....they really didn't do cats....and to stay away from them. Good advice....but they come after you! I was wearing heavy boots and carried a broom just to get to my car, I would open the door and have a cat hanging off my foot, I was really concerned that one would get into my home....it would have killed us all! I got it in the hand which was on the roof of my car (my car was a part of the land war the cats were having). I called them back Monday morning and told them to do something...told them what happened. They came out...talked to the neighbors....there were several people running away from the cats....sounds kind of funny when there were black bear in the hood too! They could not find the cat.....the cat the neighbors cited for the bad behavior was the same one I had described. This cat was mean....when you stomped your feet at it....it came after you!!! Being our little pocket of the world had the most cases of rabies in the wildlfe....they thought I should go for the shots. It was horrible, the needles they use are HUGH....like as big as pencils and it hurts....I had all the reactions.....the one time they had doctors and paddles ready 'just in case'. Not good at all. I was really glad that the newspaper didn't print my name, I would have died. It really annoys me when people do the bleeding heart thing to protect ferral cats.

WOW. Where are you? It seems like rabies is pretty rare in most areas. When I was bitten, they just asked me if the cat behaved in such a way that would make me think it was rabid...and the answer was no. I thought if I kept it, I could watch it for signs it wasn't healthy. I found 7 youngish (5mos?) cats in a vacant house/barn. They were left without food or water, and I did the bleeding heart thing and brought them home. And then worked with them until they were all sweethearts! Yeah, I guess I'm a bleeding heart <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />. I got bitten by a panicked kitten; I really couldn't in all fairness call this a feral cat. Sorry this got off the topic of terrorists, but Deb, that is one heck of a story...yikes.

This was in NJ, this happened about 7 or 8 years ago. There was a terrible outbreak, NY/NJ/PA. There was one death due to rabies the summer before I got nailed. About the time I was attacked, there was a little girl attacked on the school's playground. Numerous towns issued warnings. The disease wiped out the fox, raccoon, skunks, there was reports of it in bear and cattle. It was serious. For a long time it was considered a dead disease. NOT. There was even a big uproar about the lack of a new testing method, the animal groups thought it was a real bad thing about what was being done. There were complaints from these groups left and right....the law was being mean to animals....well, that fox that attacked the kids on the swing just might be sick! When ever a report hit the local paper....sure enough there was an Animal Rights person right there!! They have no sense.

I have saved kitties in barns too...that's different...LOL.

Same thing happened to me as a child living in Fort Benning, Georgia, only it was SQUIRRELS!! My mom was bitten, (had to have the stomach shot series), I was chased into the house by one, almost everyone on post had a story, (& NO nobody was feeding them). Huge oak trees were a great breeding ground. The cause was overpopulation/lack of natural predators). Thankfully, one day, when all us kids were in school, the cavalry rode to the rescue & shot most of them. GO ARMY!!! To this day, big dogs, no problem, little squirrel, I get a little hinky. (as you can probably tell, I'm an army brat)

I know how you feel....I use to walk by the bear...it's only a bear.....no problem. But when I saw a cat....I shook it my boots.

These animal people crack me up....how do they expect to be taken seriously? The one group had that anti-dock and crop thing going.....bad to surgically alter your dog. The same group has the blonde spokesperson....I think for some reason she has been surgically enhanced. So it is bad to alter your dog to some unrealistic breed standard....but isn't the spokesperson guilty of the same????

So true, especially since most people who get "enhanced" don't do it for themselves anyway. Also, I have another question? If everyone becomes a vegan, & everyone becomes an animal rights activist, then won't cattle, sheep, goats, etc. become extinct?

Feral cats are a real nusaince. We have one here on campus that everyone persists in feeding. I finally sent out an email telling them to stop, that it was doing fine on birds. Quite a few people have been scratched when they got too close. Next week I am borrowing a trap from the animal shelter so that I can take it to the vet and at least have it neutered and vaccinated. I would leave it at the shelter but half the campus would be after me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Leah

That's nuts, I didn't realize they were here either. I'm in Royal Palm.