A raccoon struck by two different vehicles on Route 29 last weekend has tested positive for rabies, Falls Church City says.
The drivers hit the animal near the 500 block of S. Washington Street in the West Falls Church area on Saturday, Sept. 23, according to the city. The raccoon’s resulting injuries led Falls Church City police to euthanize it.
Before police arrived, however, at least two people came into contact with the animal.
“A witness stated that prior to officers arriving, both he and an unidentified driver came in direct contact with the injured raccoon while removing it from the roadway,” the city said in a news release.
The Fairfax County Health Department tested the raccoon for rabies and reported that it was positive on Tuesday (Sept. 26).
“The City of Falls Church Animal Control Officer and Fairfax County Health Department are seeking to identify the unknown driver (and any other individuals) who came in contact with the raccoon to clear them of rabies exposure,” Falls Church City said. “Please call the Fairfax County Health Department Rabies Program immediately at 703-246-2433 (TTY 711) if you believe that you were exposed.”
Falls Church says this is the first animal found within its city limits to test positive for rabies in 2023.
The Fairfax County Health Department typically identifies 40 to 60 rabies cases annually. Cases so far this year have included a raccoon that got attacked by a dog in Vienna and a skunk that chased, sprayed and bit hikers on the Bull Run Occoquan Trail in Clifton.
Rabies cases often increase in the spring, summer, and end of the fall, Fairfax County health officials previously told FFXnow.
“Rabies is a viral disease that people and pets can catch from infected animals through a bite, scratch, broken skin, and mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth.),” Falls Church City said. “It is fatal if medical care is not given promptly.”
The city advises anyone who encounters sick, injured or aggressive wildlife that appear injured, sick, lethargic, disoriented, or aggressive to avoid it and call its non-emergency line at 703-241-5053.
In Fairfax County, community members can report incidents to the Animal Protection Police at 703-691-2131.
Photo via Pete Nuij/Unsplash
A green iguana is reportedly on the loose in Reston.
The reptile was spotted at Lake Newport around 4:30 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 11), according to Restonian Nicola Shelley.
“We did a double take because we couldn’t quite believe what we were seeing,” Shelley said.
She scoured NextDoor and community lost pet pages to determine if the creature was an escaped pet.
An animal protection officer says it’s likely the iguana was a pet or deliberately released by someone.
The animal was seen suspended in a tree over water, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
“The animal is not inherently dangerous,” the FCPD wrote in a statement to FFXnow. “Due to the location of the iguana at the time of the call, no attempt to review the animal was made.”
The FCPD encourages residents to call the non-emergency number if they see the animal.
“I told my neighbors as it might give someone one heck of a surprise if they were out gardening and he was hiding in their yard. Poor guy!” Shelley said.
This year’s annual dragonfly count by Reston Association yielded higher than average numbers of the tiny critters.
Volunteer counters spotted 573 individual dragonflies from 16 species, the organization recently shared.
This is the first time the count tallied up more than 14 species since 2013, according to RA. Most of the dragonflies were called blue dashers, eastern amberwings and slaty skimmers. Some, like the dragonhunter, were seen for the first time since 2011.
But RA Chief Operating Officer Peter Lusk says that while the count was high, there was not a significant increase overall. Over the last 15 counts, there have been around 400 individual counts and 14 species, he said. There are 41 species of dragonfly in Reston.
“The number of species in Reston depends on many factors, including weather,” Lusk said by email. “The species identified this year indicates that despite a cool summer, Dragonfly numbers were not impacted, and our natural areas continue to support wildlife populations.”
The effort is led by staff and volunteers from the Walker Nature Center. Prior to the count, the center hosts a class to teach members about dragonflies.
Photo via Utsav Srestha/Unsplash
A rabid skunk was found on the Bull Run Occoquan Trail on Saturday, June 10, the Fairfax County Health Department confirmed today (Tuesday).
The skunk reportedly chased, sprayed and bit multiple hikers before it was found near Balmoral Terrace and Cannon Fort Drive in Clifton. Health officials advise that it may have had contact with other people or pets during the time that it was sick.
The skunk was described as an adult largely black animal with a large white stripe covering most of its back. It was reported several times between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. before it was captured by Animal Protection Police.
Rabies can infect wildlife — especially foxes, raccoons, skunk, bats and domestic animals. People get rabies when they are bitten or scratched by an animal infected by it.
To date, 10 animals have been diagnosed with rabies in the county this year, including a raccoon that was bitten by a dog in Vienna last month.
Here’s more from the health department on what to look out for:
Animals with rabies may act normally during the early stages of the disease, making it difficult to know if the animal is infected. As the disease progresses, animals often show changes in behavior. For example, wild animals may act very docile and domestic animals may become aggressive. Rabid animals may stagger, drool, or become paralyzed. Protect yourself and your family from rabies: stay away from wild animals and be sure pets are vaccinated against rabies every year. Remember, if the animal is not your own, leave it alone!
If bitten or scratched by an animal that might have rabies, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical attention right away. When vaccinations are provided in time and appropriately, rabies treatment is 100 percent effective in preventing the disease. But if not treated, rabies is 100 percent fatal.
If anyone was bitten or scratched by the animal on or around June 10, county health officials urge individuals to call the Fairfax County Health Department Rabies Program at 703-246-2433, extension 711.
Photo via Bryan Padron/Unsplash
Several groups are working together to embark on a one-of-a-kind urban mussel restoration project for the Snakeden and Glade stream valleys in Reston.
The project is part of a partnership with Virginia Tech, the U.S Geological Survey and other institutions. The team will work to install mussel beds into restored streams and evaluate their ability to remove nutrient and sediment pollution.
“Freshwater mussels have the ability to filter stream water at a prodigious rate, improving water quality, and thereby potentially keeping local streams, rivers, and receiving estuaries cleaner,” the Resource Protection Group, a nonprofit funding the effort, said on the project page. “Within urbanized settings such as Reston, the possibility of utilizing mussels to improve both local water quality and that of larger receiving systems is quite intriguing.”
According to the organization, Virginia Commonwealth University and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed a study last year on whether freshwater mussels could survive in the streams before the current, larger-scale project to reintroduce the animals launched.
Other initiatives are also planned at both stream valleys.
A team of researchers from William and Mary and George Mason University will investigate the best ways to reduce the colonialization of stream restoration by grass and other invasive and non-native vegetation.
“We are excited to do our part to contribute to the science of stream management in our region by hosting these projects,” Reston Association said in an announcement on Friday (June 9).
Scientists are also working on studying water quality and vegetation management at both areas, which are part of the Northern Virginia Stream Restoration Bank Initiative.
RA COO Larry Butler noted that it’s not clear when the work related to invasive species will be completed, but it could take three to three-and-a-half years. The stream monitoring and mussel programs are expected to cost $2 million.
“The stream monitoring and mussel programs are five years with approximately four years remaining, with the work split between Snakeden Branch and the Glade watersheds,” Butler wrote in a statement to FFXnow.
Photo via Resource Protection Group
A dog attacked a cat and a rabid raccoon in Vienna earlier this month, an encounter that left the raccoon dead, police say.
The dog got loose in the 700 block of MacArthur Avenue NE and attacked the two other animals on May 12, according to the Vienna Police Department’s recap for the week of May 12-18.
The incident was reported on May 15 by a neighbor of the dog’s owner. The neighbor also told police that his own dog was bitten while he and the owner were both walking their pets at noon on May 8. The bite left “a puncture wound.”
“The Animal Control Officer in Fairfax County investigated these incidents and placed the dog under a 10-day quarantine,” the VPD said. “ACO Barker had a conversation with the dog’s owner, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the dog does not pose a threat to other people or animals in the future.”
The Fairfax County Health Department reported to police on May 16 that the slain raccoon had been tested for rabies and was confirmed to be positive.
“The owner of the dog was promptly notified, and the quarantine period was extended to the required 45 days,” Vienna police said, noting that both that dog and the dog of the resident who reported the incidents were up-to-date on their vaccinations.
About half of the 40 to 60 rabies cases recorded in Fairfax County each year involve raccoons, the county’s rabies program manager previously told FFXnow. The virus typically spreads through a bite or scratch and nearly always proves fatal.
Other notable incidents in last week’s crime round-up include three domestic assaults and a May 12 crash at the intersection of Locust Street and Branch Road where “the driver lost control, went over the curb, and struck a utility pole.”
The driver, a 69-year-old man from Vienna, was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Alcohol also figured into a trespassing incident at Yeonas Park around 3:30 p.m. on May 13:
Officers responded to the report of a man who was refusing to leave the ballpark. The Vienna Little League President advised he saw the man drinking alcohol and when he requested he leave the park, the man threatened him. The man was trespassed from the park by the Little League President and he left the area.
In addition, officers responded to three times to people playing pickleball at Glyndon Park outside of the town’s approved hours. The complaints came in at 7:36 p.m. and 9:07 p.m. on Wednesday (May 17), and at 9:02 p.m. on Thursday (May 18).
Separately, the VPD announced last week that a man had been arrested on Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl at a Vienna park.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Reston Town Center’s family of falcons are officially live in more ways than one.
Town center owner BXP — formerly known as Boston Properties — announced yesterday (Thursday) that a webcam similar to the Giant Panda cam at the National Zoo in D.C. has been installed to keep an eye on the area’s resident peregrine falcons.
This year, the mother falcon laid three eggs on the rooftop of a building in the town center and had three female babies. The neighborhood has been home to falcons ever since a pair of chicks were found on Market Street in 2015.
“Reston Town Center is committed to supporting the conservation of declining populations by providing a thriving ecosystem and habitat for survival,” BXP said.
Peregrine falcons were on the decline due to the impacts of DDT, a pesticide that was widely used in agriculture until it was banned in the 1970s.
(Correction: This article initially said peregrine falcons are currently declining. The species has started to recover since DDT was banned, getting taken off the endangered species list in 1999.)
Identification bands are placed on the falcons in the town center.
The falcons have attracted local attention — including an attempt by Reston Now readers to name them “Free” and “Parking” in reference to opposition against paid parking at RTC in 2017. They are then named Robert and Anne after Reston’s founder Bob Simon and Lake Anne.
A spokesperson for BXP didn’t return a request for comment from FFXnow by press time.
Maintenance work on the Circle Woods stormwater pond in Oakton will have to wait until this summer — or until the hawks nesting in a nearby tree take their leave.
The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) shared on Monday (April 3) that its contractor had encountered an “active hawks nest” in a tree that has been slated for removal.
The birds and their nest are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treat Act and a nationwide permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the county.
“The construction team and our Fairfax County Park Authority partners made the decision to pause active work to limit disruption that could impact the nesting birds and ensure we maintain compliance with the permit and federal law,” DPWES said in an update on the project page.
DPWES spokesperson Sharon North confirmed that only one nest has been found, but it’s unclear how many birds are using it. At least two hawks have been photographed in the area.
Work will resume after the nesting period, which is expected to last through early June, or once the project team determines that the nest is no longer being used.
Construction on the pond was scheduled to begin on March 3, according to Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik. Some initial setup and tree-clearing activities had gotten underway when workers found the hawk nest.
@ffxpublicworks completed survey, permitting, design, & support services for the Circle Woods Pond Improvement Project to perform necessary maintenance on an existing stormwater detention facility & make improvements within the pond floor and at the outfall. pic.twitter.com/eyjNWzUdv4
— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) February 21, 2023
DPWES says it initiated the project after maintenance workers detected “dam and control structure deficiencies” with the detention pond, which is located near East Blake Lane Park.
In addition to making “necessary repairs” to the dam and replacing the control structure, the project will involve the removal of sediment and an “extensive” tree root structure that has begun to encroach on the dam embankment, according to the county.
With a total budget of $685,000, the project was expected to be finished in November, suggesting that if construction work doesn’t resume until June, it will now continue into 2023.
Once construction restarts, the East Blake Lane Trail will be closed between Vaden Dr. and Route 29 will be closed throughout the project.
Virginia’s Conservation Police are investigating a reported shooting of a red-tailed hawk at Lake Accotink Park last week that required the bird to be euthanized.
A woman saw the hawk flying near the North Springfield park’s carousel on Wednesday (Jan. 18) afternoon. When she tried to get closer for a photograph, though, she found it “struggling” in Flag Run, a creek that passes through the park, according to Diva Crows, a local songbird rehabilitation center.
The woman took the bird to Diva Crows, which gave it fluids before transferring it to a veterinarian the following morning.
“The bird’s wing was broken, it was bleeding from the chest and under the eye,” Diva Crows Director Catherine Sevcenko told FFXnow. “Even worse, its head was twisted over its shoulder and it had little use of its legs.”
The vet took X-rays that indicated the hawk had been shot, with two pellets passing through its chest to its skull. The vet euthanized the bird “to end its suffering,” Sevcenko said.
The incident was reported to the Fairfax County Park Authority and Animal Protection Police, which notified the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR).
DWR confirmed that the case is under investigation, but no further details are currently available. The Fairfax County Police Department said the vet “reported the bird had two injuries due to being shot with BB’s.”
Red-tailed hawks are among dozens of species protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treat Act of 1918, which prohibits killing, capturing, selling, transporting or otherwise harming many wild birds without a permit.
There are an estimated 3.1 million red-tailed hawks worldwide, according to the Avian Conservation Assessment Database.
“We do not have an estimate on the number of red-tailed hawks in the county and are not aware of any other such occurrences,” an FCPD spokesperson said.
Sevcenko says Diva Crows gets about one shot bird per year, though her operation has remained relatively small since starting in 2012. The center got a raven last year that had been shot but survived, ultimately winding up at the Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, New York.
Diva Crows typically handles songbirds, but Sevcenko’s state permit enables her to take in raptors or birds of prey if they’re transferred elsewhere for additional care within 24 hours. The center accepts injured and orphaned animals for rehabilitation from anywhere in Virginia, though most come from Fairfax and Arlington counties.
Sevcenko says she hopes publicizing the incident will help investigators figure out what happened and who was responsible.
“These cases are hard to investigate but having a witness really helps,” she said, noting that the Lake Accotink Park visitor saw the bird flying but didn’t hear the pellet shots.
A neurological disease that’s fatal to deer has been detected in Fairfax County for the first time ever.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in an adult male deer killed by a hunter in the Vienna area this past October, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) reported Friday (Jan. 13).
The department says it confirmed the diagnosis with a sample obtained shortly after the deer was taken to a taxidermist in late October
“At the time of harvest, no outward signs of disease were noted, and the deer appeared to be in good condition,” DWR said in a news release. “Because this is the first CWD-positive detection in Fairfax County, a county bordering Disease Management Area 2 (DMA2), the DWR conducted an extensive forensic investigation to confirm the harvest location of this deer.”
Disease Management Area 2 encompasses Loudoun, Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, Page, Rappahannock counties, where four instances of the disease — including one in Loudoun County — were detected during the 2021-2022 deer-hunting season.
First detected in Virginia in 2009, CWD is caused by an infectious protein called a prion that get transmitted to deer through saliva, feces, and urine from infected deer as well as through contaminated soil, according to DWR.
It can take months or even over a year after being exposed for infected deer to show symptoms, which include “staggering, abnormal posture, lowered head, drooling, confusion, and marked weight loss,” the department says.
While the disease isn’t known to be infectious or dangerous to humans, pets or livestock, DWR advises all hunters with deer from CWD-positive areas to get them tested and avoid eating meat from animals that test positive.
The department also recommends against transporting deer carcasses or parts with brain or spinal cord tissue from Fairfax County to an area where CWD hasn’t been detected before. Deer parts should be put in double bags and disposed of in a landfill or a trash bin, where they can be collected.
The state says it won’t make any regulatory changes in response to the CWD detection in Fairfax County until after the current hunting season, but drop sites where deer heads can be taken for CWD testing will be added before the next season. Right now, the closest options are in Loudoun.
Though deer-hunting season is mostly over in Virginia, Fairfax County is one of several localities included in the state’s urban archery program, which restricts hunters to deer without antlers and lasts through March 26.
In an effort to manage local deer populations, Fairfax County is allowing hunting with bows and arrows at over 100 parks in its 2022-2023 archery season, which runs through Feb. 18. Testing for CWD has been conducted throughout the county in recent years as part of its deer management program.
“Since the 2019-2020 season, over 750 deer have been tested, with this being the only detection to date in the county,” DWR said.
The Fairfax County Police Department’s wildlife management staff, which has been assisting with CWD surveillance efforts since 2019, will work with DWR to “determine any new rules or regulatory changes that will occur.” It will also help identify testing options for hunters participating in the county archery program or on private property.
This has evidently been a year for new diseases in local nature. Last week, the county announced that beech leaf disease has been found in three parks, putting one of the area’s most common tree species at risk.
