Rabies Scare

So this morning, Mike calls me up at work shortly after he had just dropped Ethan off to preschool and tells me something that started out kinda funny but then left me worried for the rest of the day. Our conversation went something like this:

Mike: Guess what your son did?

Anne: Oh, great. What’d he do now?

Mike: Your son got bit by a bunny.

Anne: A what?

Mike: A bunny.

Anne: Like a rabbit-bunny?

Mike: Yes, a rabbit-bunny?

Anne: No way. One of those wild bunnies that come in the yard?

Mike: I guess.

Anne: Shut up. No, he didn’t.

Mike: I was getting ready to take him to school. And I was fixing the car seat then I heard him scream. So I asked him what happened and he told me ‘the bunny bite me’. [By this time, I was seriously giggling like a school girl]

Anne: You’re not serious. There’s no way.

Mike: I asked him where he got bit, and he showed me his finger, and there were bite marks.

Anne: No, there weren’t.

Mike: I’m not lying!

Anne: Oh my God. Aren’t those wild bunnies? Don’t they have rabies?!?

Mike: Maybe. But doesn’t look like it broke through the skin.

Anne: How can you tell? And how in the hell did Ethan get so close to the bunnies anyway? They usually run away when they see you!

Mike: I don’t know. Maybe he was trying to catch them.

Anne: Are you sure they don’t have rabies? Should you take him to the doctor?

Mike: He seemed ok when I dropped him off.


OK, so by this time my giggling had started to taper off and I was growing concerned. Around lunchtime, I called the school and asked one of the teachers if Ethan’s been whiny or if his hand has swollen or had any kind of rash – Honestly, I wouldn’t know what rabies look like if it kissed me on the lips – but I figured, if the teacher said he was acting out of the ordinary, I could call Mike to get over there to check on him. Teacher said he was fine, so I felt a little relieved.

After a little bit of googling, I found that squirrels, rodents and rabbits [apparently] are rarely get infected. And since the teacher assured me Ethan wasn’t having convulsions, I became less worried. Still I wondered how in the heck he managed to get close enough to the bunnies for them to bite him.

When I got home, it was the first thing I asked Ethan. Sure enough, he showed me his finger that had a mark on it. It wasn’t big, but it was noticeable.

Then Mike started laughing and told me he was sure Ethan didn’t get bit by a bunny. Apparently, when they got home, he asked Ethan to show him where he was when the bunny bit him… and Ethan pointed at a pile of cacti in the front yard.

Whew!

At least we don’t have rogue bunnies hanging around the house!