Rabies

[Rangdale]

I work with a guy who started tapping a couple of years ago. This past week he found one of his drops (all of his are single taps with a few feet of line that run into a bucket on the ground) had been chewed pretty good and the lid knocked off the bucket. He also noticed a few more lids knocked off. He dumped all of his sap on the ground for fear of rabies. This would never have even crossed my mind, I would have replaced the line, put the lids back and moved on. Has anyone actually heard of this??

[antelope76]

Sounds a little paranoid to me.

[cbhansen]

Small rodents, such as tube chewing squirrels, are not typical reservoirs of the rabies virus. Further, transmission of the virus, aside from a direct bite / scratch, requires direct contact with an infected animal's saliva into an open cut / scratch, etc. although infection is potentially possible through saliva to mucus membrane contact. The virus become non-infectious when it dries out or is exposed to sunlight. This is not not trivialize rabies. Extreme care is required when handling or coming in contact with a potentially rabid animal. But I personally would not be concerned with the scenario noted.

[Russell Lampron]

Most virus's, bacteria and mold can't survive at a temperature over 165*F. That is why we heat our syrup to 190* before packaging. It kills those things and sterilizes the container we are packaging in. I don't know how much sap your friend dumped but he didn't need to.

[saphound]

Sounds a little paranoid to me.
Me too.....

[Jmsmithy]

Me too.....

Me three...

[helptheold]

Speaking as someone bitten by a bat & had to get the shots, all the research I've done says this is not possible.