Residents are being urged to immunize their pets against rabies and to be cautious around wild animals after a bat found in Woodstock was determined to be rabid.
A family noticed the bat acting strangely in their back yard Aug. 2, according to an animal control official.
”They heard it the night before, and the next day found it at the base of a tree. Normally, a bat wouldn`t lie on the ground, but hang someplace,” a spokeswoman for the McHenry County Department of Health said.
This was the second rabid bat found in the county this year, and the fourth since November 1990, said Norma Spitzbart, the county`s animal control coordinator.
Spitzbart said there is no reason for residents to be overly concerned, but they should be cautious.
Bats and skunks are the primary forms of wildlife in this area that carry rabies. But any mammal, including humans, can contract rabies after contact with a rabid animal. Cats and dogs are the most likely to bring rabies into contact with people.