A call from the 911 center started a chain of events that has led to Jasper taking steps to enact a new ordinance regarding food disposal. It was late November when Animal Control Officer Lonnie Waters got the call from dispatch stating that a man had been bitten by a raccoon.
The incident happened on East Church Street but due to HIPAA laws and by request of the victim, Waters refused to further delineate a location. A resident got bit near his wrist when his dog and a raccoon began fighting. Unable to deter the animals, he grabbed the raccoon by the tail in an attempt to release the animal’s hold on the dog but the raccoon was faster, turning on the man.

Waters took the animal in, euthanized it and called the environmental health office the following Monday. Since the raccoon had attacked a human, it was sent to the lab and was determined to have rabies. Per protocol, the man received a series of shots and has recovered fully.

“All the wildlife is getting more and more domesticated in the city of Jasper. We live in an area where you’re going to have bears and deer, all animals. But with certain situations the animals are getting friendly with people,”

Waters said. He said that he’s had some complaints of people throwing their table scraps outside near their homes which is creating less and less fear of humans in wildlife. In turn, if not addressed, incidents like this are likely to increase in volume.

“I have talked to some of the people and they have agreed to take care of the issue. We are looking at drawing up an ordinance so that we can correct someone if we have to,”

he reported.

He brought up the problem at Monday night’s city council meeting and suggested an ordinance be written to avoid future problems.

Jan Stevens of Pickens County Health Department stated that the incidents of rabies have been steady over the last few years with no depreciable increase. Nevertheless, it is present and people should be cautious with their families and their pets.

Waters told FYN he encourages people to put their food scraps into garbage disposals or in their regular trash for collection but not to dispose of it outside. He further suggested a few precautions are in order: Put your bird feeders at the edge of the woods and the yard; if you don’t want to dispose of your scraps through a disposal or regular trash, take your table scraps down into the woods so that if they come to the house they won’t find anything; don’t leave pet food outside.

“That will keep the wildlife away from the house. They won’t get used to seeing people walking by sliding glass doors or through the yard. They get where they’re not afraid of them. That’s what causes problems, that’s what causes problems for your neighbors,”

Waters asserted.