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for every little environmental infraction in town. ''How do we test for certain?" |
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"If the male's still hanging around, I could call the police." |
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"Shoot it," she said. "Only way is to test the brain tissue." |
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Terry looked out the window. The male was nowhere in sight. But in the sunlight the female lay on the lawn like a gaping wound. "What about the female?" Terry asked. "Can't you test the carcass, where she was bitten?" |
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"Not really. The virus shows up in the saliva, but you'd need large gobs of the stuff that didn't dilute. And from what you said, it sounds like he left quite a mess. Suppose we could test if the female was rabid, on the out chance that if the male's diseased, his mate would be too. Like AIDS." |
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"But she didn't look rabid." |
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"You mean, she wasn't foaming at the mouth." |
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"Yes," Terry said, and in her mind that vicious strip of video replayed itself. "Just terrified." |
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In a labored manner, as if addressing a slow child, Burdick explained that mouth-foaming aggressiveness was only one symptom of the diseasein fact, a late stage of its progress. A rabid animal might not exhibit any clear behavior. There was also the so-called "dumb rabies," where affected animals appeared dopey, passive, or unusually friendly. The female could still have been a carrier but in the early stage. What distressed Terry was that Matty passed through Magog Woods each dayshortcuts to and from school. He explored them for wild flowers and toads. His tree house was deep inside. He practically lived in the woods. |
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"Can't you send somebody out?" |
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"Nope. Maybe in a couple days I can get out there. But then we have the problem of decomposition. Screws up the test results. Unless, of course, you care to refrigerate the carcass." |
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Great suggestion, Terry thought, and imagined explaining to Calvin and Matty why there was an eviscerated raccoon in the fridge. |
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"'Course, you can do it yourself." |
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"Cut off the head, pack it in ice, and bring it in." |
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