BAR HARBOR — The National Park Service is posting signs at Acadia National Park after confirming that it found a dead raccoon infected with rabies.
The raccoon was found near the restroom at Sieur de Monts Springs, a popular area inside the park. The area remains open to the public, but visitors are warned to be alert to wildlife that appears sick, aggressive, or uncoordinated.
Rabies in people is very rare in the United States, but it is common in wildlife. In Maine, the most commonly infected animals are raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes.
Rabies spread to Maine in the mid-1990s, and the first confirmed case of a rabid raccoon on Mount Desert Island was in 2001. Reports of rabid animals have occurred in Maine every year since.
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