Full Notification

Good Morning All
During the past few weeks the excessive heat and heat index have increased the amount of nocturnal creatures wandering around in the day. The concern for most people, Is this animal rabid? Currently, the weather conditions are not acceptable to these animals and they are looking for a place to cool down and with these weather conditions, unfortunately their water supply is drying up.

One of the most common myths regarding wildlife is that a raccoon active during the daylight hours has rabies. That is just not true. We constantly receive phone calls from people who have spotted a raccoon active during the daytime, and they assume it must be rabid, and they call the game commission or the local police department to report this information and perhaps request that the agency come and remove the dangerous animal.

Raccoons are primarily nocturnal animals, but the truth is that they do frequently forage during the daylight hours as well. In particular, raccoons that haven't found enough to eat, or females who have young to feed will need extra time to search for food, and thus they may be found moving about while the sun is up. If the animal is moving in a normal manner (as opposed to walking in circles while falling down) it's likely healthy.

Please understand these are wild animals and if provoked will defend themselves. The rule of thumb for wildlife: Leave them alone.


The next few weeks we will have additional heat waves and the heat index will be over 100 degrees which will bring out more of our night time wildlife. If you believe any animal is showing signs of being rabid, please call the police through the Berks County Communications non-emergency phone number 610-655-4911 and a police officer will respond to evaluate the animal.