Somebody must have forgotten that the new role of media is apparently to repeat and inflame and never evaluate the accuracy of the rumors it reprints. They mistakenly assumed their job was to do some “actual journalism”, (cold research and statistic laden fact-checking) instead! Shocking development in this day and age, but good for us. (I’m sure the offending outliars at the Washington Post will be fired in the morning.) In the mean time we should enjoy our good fortune because this could save a few thousand beavers’ lives. Pass it on:
Got rabid beaver fever? Remain calm
The country’s largest rodents hadn’t made news in the D.C. area since a rogue beaver munched iconic Tidal Basin cherry trees in 1999. Then last week, rabid beavers attacked twice in four days in Fairfax County, mauling a swimmer and chasing children on a dock. Those attacks followed one in New York last month and three in Philadelphia last year. Are area beavers running amok?
Probably not, said Julia Murphy, Public Health Veterinarian for Virginia. She has not seen more rabies cases than usual this year. The East Coast, particularly the Mid-Atlantic region, does report more rabid animals than any other region in the country, but Murphy said that’s because we have the most people. Animals are usually tested only when there is reason to think people have been exposed to disease, and in large population centers, people and wild animals practically live on top of each other. No one notices a rabid animal who dies in a rural forest, but when one terrorizes kids in Springfield, it gets our attention. We kill it, test it, report it — and it becomes a statistic.
Outstanding reporting from Bonnie Berkowitz and Patterson Clark at The Washington Post. Thank you very much for putting an alarming issue in context. Send this article to your aunt or co-worker who keeps sending you those ‘ rabid beaver’ emails, and do NOT let anyone tell you that beavers are a threat.
Oh and about those cherry trees….Remember my accidental discovery of the “ Paddles the beaver” button from the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC? Well I must have written NPS about it because I got an email this weekend from a ranger at the park who thought our website was amazing and was happy we were saving beavers. He said that the buttons were so popular they were nearly sold out before the festival, but that he had a few left and would be sending them our way.
One of course will be for ME and my ‘rabid’ pursuit of all things beaver. But maybe the rest are silent auction items? Here’s further proof of the old adage that if you’re not nuts about beavers by now, you’re really not “Worth A Dam”.
