Rabies and Plague in Colorado - Page 1

If you have dogs and live in No. Colorado, see this link:

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/NEWS01/807240361

If you live in So. Colorado, see the link to plague:

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/07/26/news/local/doc488acef1ac429841

871677.txt

OMG, so much for training and tracking later in the evening when it is cooler. I saw some bats last night. We've had reports of plague up north in my county too. And tons of mosquitos - we're having a drought, how can there be so many?!? I'm not a big fan of bats, but they eat mosquitos. At least, when the bats aren't rabid they eat mosquitos.

Thank you for introducing this topic Hodie.It would be very interesting to see the report on activities of Mosquitoes from individuals in different states as well.Including Bats.From my understanding.I may be wrong.It is the female mosquito only that needs blood in order to harvest the many offspring.Usually this happens when the sun is going down.I take great care to make sure that there is no standing water anywhere on my five acres.They can multiply in a minute bit of water within 24 hours.I am very fortunate to have Banana spiders as they so love mosquitoes.A lot safer than a bat.

 Sam, 

Come on down and train and track here. It is pretty dry although at the moment we are getting some serious clouds and I am hoping some will spit some moisture.

We have no bats here, and we have few mosquitos at the moment. Actually, one of my formal areas of study and a hobby too is meteorology, and especially how that influences emerging infectious disease etc. My friends 12 year old son has learned so much we were recently at a meeting with 40 adults with the National Weather Service and he knew more than all but two adults in the room!

If you are ever interested and have time Rainhaus I can explain why even when it is relatively drought, there are mosquitos. As for the bats, yes, this is a good reason for them to exist. Most people who are bitten by bats have done something stupid, like pick it up *(that is unless one lives in Translyvannia).

My concern here is the rabbit convention that goes on daily here. My dogs all love them but thankfully they stay outside the fences normally. Yesterday I took in a stray lab and he has tapeworms. So he has probably been eating rabbit for meals lately. Now he is treated and vaccinated and I will hope I can find his owner or someone to adopt him if I can't so I don't have to send him to the shelter.

Everyone just be careful. Like other hazards, this too is manageable.

Well, The rabbits are in a drought as well just trying to survive.Yes I have the time.Thats wonderful about your friends 12 yr old.I think that most meteorologists are just looking at their ratings.With all this drought the ecological system that is supposed to work is way off kilter.etc etc.I do hope you will find a suitable home for the lab.Keep up your Good Works!!

 Just watched a little cotton tail, perhaps 6 inches long, spread eagled out back trying to cool itself down. The dogs on the other side of the fence could hardly stand it. Pretty funny to see this little thing ignore 10 male GSDs, all of whom would gladly chase him...

Hodie, I'd love to train with you. Only problem, your place is quite a ways from me. Hope you got some rain. We didn't get any and open space is so dry it's challenging to train a novice tracking dog. The weeds crunch and crumble and the dirt is powdery. I don't know if I remember what rain looks like. We're about to set some weather records that were better left unchallenged.