Three rabid raccoons have been found in Central Park this year, two in the last two weeks. The NYC Health Department’s latest press release warns Central Park visitors to stay away from raccoons and other animals that might carry rabies. Dogs should also be kept on leash in the park and be properly vaccinated.

The full press release is on the NYC.gov website. 

The Health Department reminds us that the last New York City rabies case in a human was in the 40s, so there is no need to panic.  Both the Bronx and Staten Island have had rabies outbreaks in raccoons in recent years without humans getting infected.  That said, the Health Department still recommends taking basic precautions against getting our pets or ourselves infected.

Update 2-27-10: Since this was posted, rabies has spread exponentially throughout the park.  This latest press release from the Health Department shows 39 positive animal cases in 2010 in Manhattan.

Watching nature is about being in the right time at the right place.  But sometimes getting up early to see one thing yields another.  This was the case with this Yellowstone Coyote. I had gotten up before dawn to see wolves, but instead got to see this frisky Coyote near Canyon Village.

The snow had this raccoon out in the daytime, eating crab apples at the top of the tree.  The raccoon could not move out any further, so it had to do all kinds of tricks to get the fruit that was just barely within reach.