Bitten by a Squirrel

Yesterday, just 30 minutes after Tabitha fell 6 feet from a tree onto her belly, Aiden came ran into the house and was screaming, “A squirrel bit me!”

He said, “I was staring at the squirrel, and he was staring at me.”

Apparently, squirrels don’t like to be stared down.

Moments after hanging up with the pediatrician, concluding that Tabitha would be okay without medical intervention, I called them right back to say we’d be bringing in Aiden!

The squirrel walked over and brushed its tail against Aiden’s leg, he said. Aiden picked up his foot to back away. The squirrel “was very strong” and bit the bottom of Aiden’s bare foot. Aiden apparently punched the squirrel in the face, and the squirrel scampered back to the tree. (I didn’t find out this detail until I was putting Aiden into bed later that night, and he said, “Did you find the squirrel mom? I punched it so hard that I think I killed it!”)

There was a little bit of blood on the bottom of Aiden’s foot, and a small puncture, a tad smaller than a pencil eraser. I poured rubbing alcohol over it, and then scrubbed it with a alcohol-doused paper towel.

Tom called in from the airport – he was coming home from being overseas – just as we were leaving to go to the pediatrician.

Grandma Becky met us at the pediatrician’s to sit with the other kids in the lobby while I took Aiden to the exam room.

Dr. John evaluated the wound and then looked up information about animal bites and rabies. The “Red Book” said to contact the local health department to assess the risk for the biting animal to see if there were cases of rabies being reported for that species. However, the Chester County Health Department was closed for the evening, and without enough information to make a decision as for what to do next, yet still within the 24 hours needed to immunize Aiden if necessary, we were sent home.

That evening, I called our pastor and asked him to please pray that Tom and I would have wisdom as we made decisions regarding Aiden’s health.

Pastor Strawbridge recommended that we call a fellow member of the congregation, Dr. Knepley who is the State Veterinarian for Pennsylvania, to help us have a broader perspective of the situation in order to make a more informed decision.

Knepley handles over 400 cases of animal rabies each year. When I described the behavior of the squirrel, he said that it was actually “normal behavior” for a squirrel who felt threatened – a warning bite. A rabid squirrel, however, would have to be pried off it’s victim as it would have continued the fight, quite viciously.

Squirrels rarely are rabid. Their treetop habitat is somewhat isolated from other animals and they are on a different sleep schedule than nocturnal animals that typically carry rabies, such as raccoons and skunks.

While Chester County notoriously led the nation for the number of confirmed rabies cases in 1988 and continues to have a significantly elevated number of rabies cases in comparison to other parts of the world, there has only been one known case of a squirrel having rabies in all of Pennsylvania – seven years ago. According to Knepley, a man was attacked while raking his yard. The squirrel was so relentless in its attack that neighbors had to pull the squirrel off of the poor guy. This is the characteristic behavior of a rabid squirrel – not one who backs down at the punch of a four year old.

Knepley also said that rabies was a “fragile virus” and that soap and water would likely kill it – but I practically “pickled” any germs on Aiden’s foot, even ones from seven days ago, by putting cleaning it with rubbing alcohol.

The Chester County Health Department returned our pediatrician’s call the next day. They that they had no cases of rabid squirrels to report. Dr. John said it seemed unlikely that the squirrel had rabies and she left the decision up to us saying if we chose the rabies vaccinations, that would be okay with her, too.

There have only been a few cases of people surviving rabies, said Knepley. All but one resulted in the person being reduced to a vegetative state. The least effected survivor, a little girl, had loss of some motor skills, but miraculously was otherwise was unscathed. She had been administered the vaccine just before the onset of the rabies symptoms. It was not soon enough to prevent the virus. At the first signs of rabies, she was put into a medically induced coma to prevent convulsions – and with rabies, I’ve read that people can die from the convulsions alone.

Rabies doesn’t always show up right away, either. Here’s a story of a man from the 1908 NY Times who was barely scratched by the tooth of a rabid puppy, and didn’t show signs of having rabies until nine months later, just before he died of the virus.

The decision isn’t one we took lightly. I begged God for wisdom, as this situation certainly is out of my league. Three experts – the Health Department, The official State Veterinarian of Pennsylvania and our Pediatrician – gave the same, clear answer: “We are leaving the decision up to you, but if it were my child, I would not immunize them with this scenario.” (The pain and side effects from the shot are apparently not something one would wish on another human being – although I have heard that an entire family in our church had to be vaccinated because a rabid bat was found in their home, and I have not asked how they tolerated the vaccine.)

And so, I am praying that the decision to not immunize Aiden – because alcohol was applied to the wound immediately, because it is extremely rare that squirrels carry rabies, and because the behavior of the squirrel was “normal” for a squirrel who felt threatened – was the right one.

We are praying that if there is a rabid squirrel in our neighborhood, that it would show up – as sick animals are quite noticeable to discerning humans – and that we would know in time to immunize Aiden if necessary.

While I’m mostly hopeful, I am admittedly still a little frightened. Death from rabies is unspeakably horrific.

As bizarre as this story may seem, I wasn’t surprised that it happened to my curious son. He is quite daring, with no sense of danger whatsoever. When he was little, we nicknamed him “Danger Mouse”. I love him very much.

9 Replies to “Bitten by a Squirrel”

  1. Sounds like you all are making the right decision in waiting. Praying for wisdom and peace for you – sometimes being a parent is so hard.

  2. We’ll be praying with you – peace in your decision and healing for Aiden.

  3. We’ll be praying too. I was laughing at the idea of him punching the squirrel ….

  4. What a difficult situation! I’m so sorry this happened. How do kids get themselves into these situations, anyhow?

  5. Your story really touched home with me. My 16 year old daughter was bit on the foot about 6 weeks ago. The squirrel was dragging it’s back legs. She felt sorry for it and thought she wanted to feed it. It attacked a piece of bread that she threw. She threw another piece and it came closet to her. It bit her on the foot. I did take her to the doctor and they gave her a tetanus shot and antibiotics. They said that rabies shots were not needed. Everything I have read about this states that rabies from a squirrel bite is extremely rare, but can be possible. I have admit that I still am very worried about this. I could be worrying for a very long time. I- to am praying that all is ok.

  6. I am sorry to hear about your son. I was bittne by a squirrel three days ago and I am going through the same thing for myself. That’s why I am reading everything I can about squirrels and rabies. I have read of two incidents in which a squirrel had rabies. I was bitten when I put some nuts out on the cement wall where the squirrel was straddled on the fence. It saw me coming and arrived at where I put the nuts down just as I was lifting my hand. I guess the squirrel thought I was a nut (which I probably am for feeding it) and started to nibble on my middle finger. It would not let go and I finally was able to put a walnut in near its mouth and it took the nut right away and began to nibble on it. My finger bled–dripping blood. I ran in and rinsed it with cold water and drenched in peroxide and went to my doctor. Same story. Rabies is rare in squirrels and I did the right thing by pouring peroxide on my finger (I had no alcohol). Also the squirrel looked quite healthy and was not aggressive. I still feel uneasy as rabies would be a tragic way go. I still have to call the CDC. The story I read on the internet about a squirrel with rabies was that a woman was walking her dog at the park who attacked the squirrel and injuried it. The woman carried it over to a tree and the squirrel bit her. It had rabies. She got the shots and survived. I am looking for the squirrel now to take a good look to see if it’s healthy. I have also prayed for myself and I extend the prayer for your son. I will never get involved with another wild aninal again!

  7. Nora! Thank you for posting your comment. I am praying for you as you make the decision whether or not to get the rabies shots. So scary! Please let me know what you decide.. and if you get the shots, what the experience was like.

Comments are closed.