Rabid animals are FAR more common than people believe. My workplace's trapper euthanized multiple rabid groundhogs last summer alone- all confirmed to be rabies positive.
A good friend of mine was bit by a raccoon while he was splitting wood in Clarksville on 6/14 . It came up from behind him and bit him in the calf and just kept coming after him. He hit it with the axe and knocked it away and went in the house but it was gone when he came back.
It created a lot of problems because we went to Canada last week for a fishing trip and he got his first shot in the states, had to get a second in the closest facility (5hrs one way) on Monday and had to leave early on Friday to get his third. Cost him a lot of money since he was in Canada.
Saw big, drunk, 'coon, waddling at E-W HWY and Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Bethesda,
midday, called the cops, they were like "Meh", even though at that time their HQ was one block away.
You know that thing had rabies.