Reported cases have been widely distributed geographically (California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania) and surveys in urban/suburban areas have shown that raccoon latrines are anything but rare. How often less serious or even subclinical infection occurs we don't know, but with raccoons in densely populated areas increasing, this is an emerging zoonosis (a disease spread from animals to humans) to keep an eye on.
Human raccoon roundworm infection has been very rarely diagnosed - only 14 cases in 30 years, but 5 cases were fatal - but this is partly because extraordinary efforts are made to diagnose serious encephalitis when there are additional signs (e.g., certain blood tests) which suggest a parasite might be involved. Very young children are most likely to do this and several cases have been described that ended tragically. You can end up dead or with serious brain damage. And if we ingest a lot of these eggs, we can get infected, too. Because raccoons are also frequently infected with round worms, the aforementioned B. And they were all wearing masks, so I couldn't identify them in the police line-up after they stole our garbage.īut the latrine thing isn't just an aesthetic problem. We used to have them come onto the deck late at night at a place we rented at the beach years ago and if we tried to shoo them away they'd stand up on their hind legs and hiss at us. And let's face it, they are nasty creatures. Of course there is plenty to be paranoid about when it comes to raccoons. This is pretty unpleasant but of course animals have to go to the bathroom - I mean, visit the latrine - somewhere. Source: Roussere et al., "Raccoon Roundworm Eggs near Homes and Risk for Larva Migrans Disease, California Communities," Emerging Infectious Disease, 2003 Dec (F) Raccoon scat hidden in leaf litter in a suburban back yard, indicating how occult contamination may be. Granivorous birds and mammals are attracted to such locations, as are curious children. (E) Latrine on a stump in a suburban park with plants sprouting from seeds in the scat.
The homogeneous-appearing fresh scat in the center is composed of digested pet food. Note the variety of fecal materials (including seeds, crustacean shells, and human refuse), reflecting the diversity of the raccoon diet. (D) Latrine site on the ground near downed timber and rocks in a suburban yard. (C) Large latrine, in use for years on a house roof, unknown to the home owner. The sides of the tree were visibly stained with fecal residue that rain had washed down the trunk, contaminating a child’s play area below with Baylisascaris procyonis eggs. (B) Large latrine in the crotch of an oak tree approximately 3.5 m (15 feet) above ground.
(A) Latrine on a chimney ledge, illustrating the climbing abilities of raccoons and their tenacity in maintaining latrines. You want some pictures?įigure caption: Typical raccoon latrines found in urban/suburban environments. In cities or suburbs that means rooftops, attics, protrusions around roofs or chimneys, stumps, woodpiles, decks or on your lawn near your beautiful prized tree, especially in a big fork or crotch above the ground. They like to locate their latrines in existing structures, either natural or manmade. Raccoon feces are usually dark colored (but the nature of the meal might influence this) and about the size of nickel or dime. Fresh raccoon feces are tube shaped and have blunt ends (you'd think that would make their anuses slam shut, but that doesn't seem to be a problem). Raccoons have communal defecating sites called raccoon latrines where they deposit their feces and read the paper. Who would be crazy or stupid enough to build a latrine for raccoons? Other raccoons. We're going to talk about raccoon latrines. What's that, you ask? The procyon part should be the tip-off, but I suppose not that many people know that Procyon is the genus to which raccoons ( Procyon loto) belong. Because now you get to hear about Baylisascaris procyonis. If you are a paranoid hypochondriacal person with young children who lives in a suburb, you've come to the right/wrong place (take your pick).
0 kommentar(er)
