The San Jose Mercury News warns us to stay away from wild animals after a rabid bat was found in North Berkeley last week. Why the Merc loves to report about our humble little city in such great detail is a mystery, but residents, consider yourself cautioned. This bat doesn’t go around saving people–and neither do its staggering skunk and raccoon friends. We’d stay away from the squirrels, too, no matter how cute they look. Apparently, Alameda County is a designated “rabid area,” so this is fairly normal.

Come to think of it, we’ve seen quite a lot of potentially disoriented roadkill lately–we saw two smushed rodents driving down North Shattuck Avenue alone. Could we be in the midst of an unprecedentedly large outbreak? Is this a sign that the city is going to the dogs–er, rabid bats? Only time will tell.

Image Source: TangoPango under Creative Commons
Berkeley residents cautioned after rabid bat found [Mercury News]