Burnsville sends warning to pet owners over uptick in viral raccoons
BURNSVILLE, Minn. -- Usually raccoons stay away from humans, but a video from Saturday in Burnsville that shows a raccoon appearing to have a seizure in a family's yard, is exactly why the city has sent out a warning.
"It was approximately two weeks ago that Burnsville Animal Control reached out to us and asked about outbreaks of raccoon, potentially distemper or rabies, because they were noticing, at that time, up to 20 reports of neurologic or sick acting raccoons," said Michelle Carstensen, Wildlife Health Program Supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Those numbers have now climbed to 39 sick raccoon reports so far this year, compared to 17 all of last year.
Two raccoons have been sent for testing and were discovered to have viral canine distemper, and that could get passed to your pet.
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"A dog that is unvaccinated that happened to encounter a sick raccoon in this scenario would be susceptible to getting that virus," Carstensen said. "And in that would be something we really would want to avoid because there really is no cure, there's just supportive care."
Residents have noticed the sick animals.
"We walked down there and it was all just curled up on the trail. And it was breathing, but it had its head buried and it wasn't doing anything," Burnsville resident Julie Schildbach said.
The DNR says it's a good reminder to stay away from wild animals and avoid attracting them to you or your home.
"Having a lot of raccoons in close contact perpetuates the cycle," Carstensen said. "So we want to avoid concentrating wildlife if we can by not putting out foods that they can get into, and and bringing them in close contact with humans in general."
The DNR says it hasn't received reports of any odd raccoon behavior outside of Burnsville, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
They advise taking caution around all wild animals wherever you encounter them.
