Coyote. Bing free use license.
Ohio 11/01/13 newsnet5.com: by Dena Greer – A man was attacked Friday morning by a coyote near a country club in Mansfield, said Mansfield Police and an ODNR spokesperson. Police said the victim called 9-1-1 to report seeing a pack of four coyotes around 11 a.m. in the 900 block of Springmill Road near the Westbrook Country Club. Mansfield police responded to the scene to find the man had been bitten, said the ODNR spokesperson. The ODNR game warden was called in to investigate. The spokesperson said the man was transported to the hospital with injuries that appear to be coyote bite marks. ODNR did not find any coyotes in the area, but said the victim’s supervisor and a law enforcement officer reported seeing the coyotes. The victim worked for a golf club in the area. – For list of precautions see http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=fiS83YgFKUE%3d&tabid=6598
Black Bear Attack:
Washington 11/01/13 dailyastorian.com: Staff report – Long Beach-area resident Janet Herman was bitten at her home near the Sandridge Road-Sid Snyder Drive intersection early Friday in what authorities believe was an accidental encounter with a black bear. The woman’s Schnauzer dog, Buddy, was killed before Herman drove the bear away with a broom. Mike Cenci, deputy chief of enforcement for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, said Friday night that Herman, in her 60s, was bitten at about 3 a.m. Friday and sought treatment at the Ocean Beach Hospital emergency room. It doesn’t appear that 911 was ever called. Cenci requested that Herman’s name be withheld from publication Friday in order to preserve her privacy, but her daughter disclosed her identity in posting additional details on Facebook on Saturday morning. According to Paula Herman-Wright, her mother suffered a bite to the stomach. The bite marks were consistent with the dentition of a black bear, Cenci said. Herman was released from the hospital Friday and is expected to make a full recovery. Herman-Wright said her mom let the two dogs out to tend to their business. Buddy, the Schnauzer, encountered the bear in close quarters on the home’s back porch and was mauled. Herman then grabbed her broom and was bitten as the bear made its escape, authorities believe. The dog died from wounds to its neck.
“My Buddy lost his life protecting my mom… I thank God that although this happened, that it was fast and painless for Buddy,” Herman-Wright said. “It bit and scratched its way through anything that stood between him and freedom,” Cenci said of the bear. Cenci thinks “the bear didn’t go looking for trouble,” but rather was eating garbage and reacted violently when surprised by Herman and her dogs. Black bears in Western Washington generally do not kill living prey, so the dog was likely killed as a defensive reaction rather than to eat. Cenci said the WDFW was not notified of the incident until later Friday morning. He made a rapid highway trip between Olympia and Long Beach, summoning a Karelian bear dog and its handler from Tacoma to join wildlife officers at the scene. But there had been precipitation in the meantime and the dog was unable to identify a likely trail for the fleeing bear. Cenci said that evidence including the overturned garbage container and deep claw marks on the porch shows that one or more bears are often in the area. WDFW has placed two large culvert-type bear traps in the vicinity to see if they can capture the right bear. If caught, it will be euthanized. – For complete article see http://www.dailyastorian.com/free/long-beach-peninsula-woman-bitten-by-bear/article_ff883132-585f-5b6a-9e60-5d960b710da2.html
West Nile Virus (WNV):
Louisiana 11/01/13 LA Dept of Health: This week, the state’s health department confirmed three new human cases of WNV, bringing this year’s total to 58 cases. This week’s new infections are West Nile fever cases, with one each in Ascension, Lafayette and Ouachita parishes. – See http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/2905
Texas 11/01/13 Gaines County: Officials have confirmed that an elderly male resident of Seminole who died on September 6th has tested positive for WNV-related complications. – See http://www.newswest9.com/story/23855433/gaines-county-man-dies-from-west-nile-virus
Rabies:
Connecticut 11/04/13 Litchfield County: A skunk that bit a man’s foot while he was sitting at a picnic table on Meadowview Drive in Torrington on October 30th has tested positive for rabies. – See http://www.registercitizen.com/general-news/20131104/man-recovering-after-being-bitten-by-rabid-skunk-in-torrington