(ITHACA, NY, July 24, 2023) – Tompkins County Whole Health’s Environmental Health Division (EH) is alerting the community to multiple reports of bites and scratches from a beaver in and near Six Mile Creek at the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve on Giles Street, Ithaca. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) has located and captured an aggressive adult beaver and transported it to Cornell, where it will be submitted for rabies testing. Results are anticipated as early as Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
EH must locate and interview anyone who had contact with a beaver at the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve within the past week. Please call EH directly at 607-274-6688, or email tceh@tompkins-co.org.
Healthy beavers generally avoid all human contact and rarely approach humans, unless the humans approach dams, dens, or their offspring. The NYS DEC Officer who responded to the complaint reported that the beaver displayed additional signs of illness as well as aggression, therefore anyone who has had contact with the beaver should be evaluated for potential risk.
Tompkins County Whole Health reminds everyone to:
- Avoid contact with any unfamiliar cats or dogs and any wild animals.
- All cats, dogs and ferrets must have initial rabies vaccinations administered no later than four months of age. Keep vaccinations current.
- Report the following incidents to Environmental Health, 24/7, at 607-274-6688:
- All animal bites or scratches.
- Any human or pet contact with saliva or other potentially infectious material (brain tissue, spinal tissue, or cerebro-spinal fluid) of wild animals or any animal suspected of having rabies.
- All bat bites, scratches, or any mere skin contact with a bat, or a bat in a room with a child, or sleeping or impaired person.
Further information can be found at: tompkinscountyny.gov/health/eh/rabies.
Media contact: Shannon Alvord, salvord@tompkins-co.org
-end-
