Getting to the bones

I don't know what the protocol would be in your country. If it was here I would phone the local conservation office to make a report and ask if there had been any other reports from other local people about suspicious animal deaths.

You SO is a law enforcement officer so maybe he can ask around at work to get a line on who would be the best authorities to contact in your local county to report and make enquiries about other possible suspicious animal deaths that might be disease related.

Once is maybe a coincidence but twice within such a short time span is a red flag. Keep your eyes and ears open for other possible incidents of bizarre animal behaviour in your locality, or reports of them from neighbours - you might want to keep an eye on your dog if it was in contact with that raccoon.

Once exposed, rabies shows up in a few weeks to 6 months. 55,000 people die from rabies. 97% from dog bites. Because everyone gets their dogs vaccinated in the US, few people contract rabies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies

I'm not sure if a Lab can culture rabies from a raccoon a week after it died. Each states have different agencies that handle such testing.

For an easy explanation, watch the old Disney movie, "Ol' Yeller"

55,000 people die from rabies ? A year, a week, a month? Since the beginning of recorded history? I get that rabies is a danger but geez. And y'all think I'm a bit dramatic.

Rabies causes about 55,000 human deaths annually worldwide.[3] 95% of human deaths due to rabies occur in Asia and Africa.[4] Roughly 97% of human rabies cases result from dog bites.[5] In the United States, animal control and vaccination programs have effectively eliminated domestic dogs as reservoirs of rabies.

Which it is why it is SO very import to keep up your dog's rabies shots!!

It is every year. Didn't you see the link? It is dramatic in places where vaccination is absent. A few years ago, in Michigan we had a bunch of cases in a short period, like 200 or so, because of failures of owners to follow the law and protect their pets.
I don't think you are a bit dramatic. To study the pros and cons of vaccinations, yet not know the prevalence of rabies worldwide and in nature in this country, brings to mind another word, not dramatic.

Wild animals that exhibit bizarre behavior are routinely tested for rabies and greater than 10% test positive (in the US). It's one of the most fundamental basics of a successful rabies program, along with vaccination.

Again, I would inquire with your local animal control and mention the coyote as well. Your state directs you to do this in the link found in my last post.

I dunno. Could be rabies, but I find dead animals all the dang time out here. It happens. I have submitted several animals, none have ever tested positive. Not saying there is no rabies, but here at least it is so rare.

Animals die. It happens. Sure, get it tested, but I wouldn't worry about it or panic.

There are so many non rabies diseases too, like distemper, tularemia, and the like. A person should always use care with dead animals.

Post of the Day!

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While rabies happens a more likely culprit is canine distemper, it's quite common in raccoons and the symptoms look similar.

Make sure your dog is up to date on both rabies and distemper vaccs.

As for getting to bones, (though I might be inclined to skip this one) I have had poor results with anthills and burying for horse legs. The best I've found is putting them in an old wire dog crate or a live trap we have that was ruined by a .40 slug. Put it on the edge of your woods downwind and observe. It can happen very fast or surprisingly slowly

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I saw something nasty in the woodshed

Around here, deer hit by cars are not removed from the side of the road. My grandkids (10, 8, 6) are always very interested in the pig/cow/chicken innards when we butcher, even though they've inspected each type of animal several times. So, we chose a deer that was easily accessable and stopped by several times over a month's time in summer to see what happened to the carcass.
The oldest GS has taken a boiled, cleaned pig's skull to school, with the permission, nay, the encouragement, of his teacher, and several classes used it as a teaching item that week. We have boiled, cleaned pig's skulls because I make pulled pork from them. (One of our butcher pigs had a tooth cavity! Would not have made a good breeder pig, because I don't know of anyone who would fill a pig's tooth!)
If your daughter is specifically interested in skulls, you might check with your local butcher and see if you could get one or more heads. I'd be glad to pm you some recipes, then the kids would see how to use "everything" on the creatures butchered, and could compare jaws, teeth and skulls.
Also, our local vet has a collection of skulls displayed in her office. Very interesting, as she has a cougar and housecat, along with domestic farm animals.
I think it's great the kid is interested. Who knows what this might spark. Vet school? Doctor? I hope you can find a way to satisfy her curiousity without feeling too icky yourself, or exposing anyone to diseases.
Kit

Last I checked I was never offered a rabies vaccine for my kids. And you can't find a post by me saying I don't vaccinate my dogs for rabies. I may not like the laws but I'm not a fool. I'll be darned if my dogs are taken away by and alarmist over 55k Africans dying each year from rabies.

The man who helps us out around here with fixing things we can't used to hunt coons and raise dogs (apparently there used to be a market for the hide *and* the meat). He says that most likely people are putting out poison for the coyotes since as of this morning we are also missing a barn cat. Of course that doesn't mean that we won't be one of the 55k who die worldwide this year - but does that seem reasonable?

I know, right ?!?!

Where is that darn gold star smilie when you need it ????

If you want your children vaccinated for rabies, I'll explain how to do it. Call the local Health Department and tell them a raccoon got stuck in a mud puddle and scratched your child, then disappeared. They will set you up with the whole series. Most Vets get the shots, too. Perhaps their interest in decomposing raccoon skulls will grow to a career in Veterinary Medicine and by having already gotten the shots, they'll be ahead of the rest.
Because most dogs have been regularly vaccinated for rabies for over half a century, we aren't Africa. You want to put the rest of your community at risk by not vaccinating your dogs, I invite you to join a community that doesn't vaccinate for rabies. Just pick a Third World Country and you'll be able to express that single freedom.
Is it less important to you because they are just Africans that are dying?
You asked, " and don't want to endanger anyone with disease ... " but don't seem to show me much appreciation for my help.

I took a criminalistics class once. Every year they would get three stillborn piglets. One would be placed in the sun, one in the shade, and one hung from a tree. They were fenced off so scavengers couldn't get to them. Every day we would observe the decomposition process. It was a great learning experience in my opinion, and with the fencing around it it was a pretty controlled situation. Taught me a lot about circle of life and nature's own recycling program.

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I know! The post to you was absolutely spot on!! I'm soo glad you could see the truth and wanted to give it a gold star!!!

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People say I can't multi-task. Well, I can tick you off and amuse myself at the same time.

The best way to clean the carcass is leave it out for flies to get on it. The larvae can eat the bones clean in less than a week. Burying it will make the decay take longer, much longer. Putting a wire cage over the carcass so another animal doesn't walk off with the carcass is a good idea if you want to keep the bones. Once the bones are clean free of meat then steam the bones to sterilize them if your all worried about disease. Wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly if you touch it. I agree that this is a cool way to teach the kids. But then again I'm a scientist (granted physicist, but my grad schooling was in biomedical field so I've done weird things to all sorts of tissues/meats).