An Idaho mother discovered her infant son attacked and injured by a raccoon after she briefly left him unattended, according to authorities.
On December 23, the woman – who has not been identified – left her baby in his carrier while settling in after returning to their Cassia County home when she heard a loud noise, according to Idaho Fish and Game.
She ran to her son’s location and discovered the critter attacking him. The protective mother pulled the animal off her baby and rescued him.
The infant was taken by his parents to Cassia Regional Hospital in Burley for treatment of undisclosed injuries and then transferred to a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, the agency said.
The baby’s father and a Cassia County Sheriff’s Deputy returned to the scene, found the raccoon still inside the house and killed it.
It is unknown how the raccoon got inside the house and no other raccoons were discovered at the home.
Idaho Fish and Game said they are confident the raccoon that was killed is responsible for the attack.
The raccoon carcass was taken for testing by the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories and tested negative for rabies.
An Idaho mother discovered her infant son attacked and injured by a raccoon after she briefly left him unattended
The woman left her baby in his carrier while settling in after returning to their Cassia County home when she heard a loud noise
While raccoons are a common species across the state, reports of attacks on humans are extremely rare, according to Idaho Fish and Game.
The agency advised residents to never purposefully feed a raccoon, secure their garbage and block raccoon access to hiding places such as sheds.
In October, a gaze of nearly 100 raccoons swarmed a woman’s Washington home in the hope of finding their next meal.
The woman, who has not been identified publicly, was forced to call authorities after realizing that she was unable to leave her own home due to the abundance of raccoons on her property in Kitsap County, near Poulsbo.
‘Somehow the word got out in raccoon land and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal,’ Kevin McCarthy, a spokesperson for the Kitsap County Sheriff, told King 5.
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office shared a video of the home invasion which showed dozens of trash pandas surrounding her heavily wooded property.
Officials warned Americans to be on the alert for rabies-infected animals amid a spate of attacks in some parts of the country in June.
Early that month, a rabid raccoon attacked two dogs and rabid bats were found in two separate houses in Missouri.
In October, a gaze of nearly 100 raccoons swarmed a woman’s Washington home in the hope of finding their next meal
In May, a stray cat with rabies attacked a person in Staten Island, New York, while in Massachusetts a rabid coyote attacked two people in a park.
Earlier this year, another raccoon with rabies attacked theme park goers in Pennsylvania in March, and in February, a Rhode Island hiker had to strangle a rabid coyote as it tried to claw at him and his dog.
There are signs that in some areas of the country there are more rabid animals than normal, with health officials raising concerns in particular over bats.
Despite the rise in rabid animals, officials have not reported that rabies infections in humans are increasing.
Warning over rabies, health officials in South Carolina said: ‘It is critical to know that people, especially children, can be bitten by a bat and not know it. That is because bats have tiny teeth.’
Fewer than 10 people are infected with the disease every year, statistics show, with most infections prevented by a shot people are given after being exposed to suspected-rabid animals that prevents the virus from infecting them.
Those suspected of being infected should receive one dose within 24 hours, and then another three shots on days three, seven and 14 after their first inoculation. Rabies is more than 99 percent fatal.
Dr. Thomas Moore, an infectious diseases expert in Kansas, told DailyMail.com that in recent years he has seen more people who are worried about rabies — but not more cases.
‘It is very rare for anyone to get diagnosed with rabies,’ he said, ‘ and when it happens, it is sensational — people will hear about it’.
‘Normally, what happens is if there is an unprovoked animal attack then people get worried about it, and they may get the rabies vaccine.’
