Has anyone ever known anyone who has caught anything from fur handeling other than fleas and ticks? Ive heard alot of warnings and cautions but Ive never known anyone to have had any problems I couldnt count the critters ive skinned without gloves I wear them most of the time now.Just courious? myth or fact?

nope, but most people where rubber gloves skinnin

ttt, good question

Never have, don't mean it could not happen though, lots of other nasty things besides rabies to worry about as well!!

Better to err on the side of caution than to worry about paying a hospital bill or worse!!

Gloves and other simple precautions are cheap insurance for others having to finish thier life with memories and tears!!

My Doc explained to me that it could be possible to contract rabies on a fresh caught animal if saliva or brain matter from the animal came in contact with an open wound on your self. Now that said I have never heard of a trapper contracting rabies skinning an animal.

Anybody know how long the rabies vaccine is good for in a human, I got fourteen shots years ago. Thanks.

gloves are cheap ... and my hands are always cut up or cracked open ... no need to take chances

only exception for me nowadays is beavers ... aint nothing much better than greasy beaver fat to heal up and soften abused hands


don't forget inhalation rabies ... very rare but possible

As a furbuyer I handled tens of thousands of critters through out my life. I did it for 30 yrs. or so without the aid of protection of any kind. I never contracted any kind of disease durring my life without gloves. In the last 5 years I have started wearing gloves as a precaution. The biggest reason I did this was because of my hands staying cracked and bleeding from the first week of season through the very last day I handled fur. The best thing I can say about gloves is this, my hands are happy hands now.

When I was a young lad an old trapper from near me caught and almost died from some long name disease he caught from skinning a coon. His name was Bill Houston, he finally got over it and live another 5 years. Be careful and always wear gloves.

we should all consider "pre-exposure" rabies shots.
They only cost 1/4 of what "real" rabies shots cost
More cheap insurance
Best Regards
John

Just saliva and brain matter, not transferable from their blood?

Trappers skinning critters have the opportunity to catch several diseases. Tularemia, echinococcus, Streptococcus, and rabies are all possible diseases you could catch.

A friend did research on the prevalence of trappers getting exposed to rabies while trapping arctic foxes. He found several individuals that had never had the precautionary shots and still had a antibody in their blood. They got from skinning the foxes. They obviously did not die. So yes, you can get rabies from skinning a critter. The incidence of people dieing is low from skinning but it happens. I agree with traprjohn on the precautionary shots, if you live in rabies country.

Several people I know have developed really bad strep infection sfrom skinning, in particular wolves and brown bears. Both had significant doctor bills to get over it and one guy lost use of the infected finger.

Enchinococcus is something you can contract from messing around with scat and stomach contents. It's found mostly in canids from foxes up through wolves. It's bad stuff.

Humans can get tularemia by handling animal skins, and eating meat from animals infected with the disease.

There is some great information on the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.

It' safest to just wear rubber gloves for all your skinning. I know some people who have gone to wewaring rubber gloves and then thin cotton gloves on top to help improve the grip and for a little more protection so the rubber glove is less likely to break.

Great info Bearpaw.

In our area rabies infects about 10 percent of our fox. Personally, after nearly 200 fox, I've never seen one that acted infected.

Does anyone have an idea of how much the rabies prevention shots are??? I know our insurance won't cover it.

Kusko, Any chance the public health nurse might have them to give free in your area? It's worth asking.

As for the prevalence of rabies in your area, do you think it changes with population up and downs.

I know on the north slope that rabies is the major factor limiting arctic fox populations. Some foxes are constant carriers and when populations get too high the stress causes the disease to mainfest and thus reduces the population.

I can't seem to do anything right with gloves on, so I skin and set traps bare handed.
With my short line and small catch, I know that I take a risk, but it has to be a small one compared to the big guys.

After the pre-exposure rabies shots, you need to get an annual TITER test to make sure the level is high enough for protection.