St. Petersburg asked not to squeeze cute raccoon dogs with rabies

In the Leningrad region, residents began to meet raccoon dogs directly at their homes. Experts warn: despite the cute appearance, these animals can not be touched and even hugged, as they can be carriers of deadly rabies. This was told by biologist Pavel Glazkov.

These nocturnal animals, like foxes, are not afraid of humans and can come quite close. But this is the main danger: wild animals pose a serious threat to human health.

Interestingly, the second name of the raccoon dog is the Ussuri fox, since its historical homeland is located in the Far East. In the Leningrad region, they began to be imported back in 1936 for the sake of valuable fur. The animals have taken root perfectly, and now about five thousand such individuals live in the region. They are also found in St. Petersburg.

By the way, in the summer in the forests of the Vsevolozhsky district, video traps filmed an unusual meeting - moose showed curiosity about the family of raccoon dogs. The herbivorous giants came closer, but their forest neighbors chose not to take risks and kept a safe distance.