For cryin' out loud, guys. Plague has been around since the middle ages, or before. It's all over Arizona, New Mexico, and many other states. 20 years ago a guy in Montana got it, and died, after skinning a bobcat. But for all of that, it isn't really common. I hunted and skinned fur-bearers, for years, and never had a problem....that's how little the chances are, of catching the disease. About the same as being struck by lightning...LOL
THE BALCK DEATH
No...they're all spread by flea bites. The plague is the same one that hit the world in the Middle Ages. It just lies quietly in the small animal population...like prairie dogs, ground squirrels, etc. The fleas that carry it can be on coyotes, bobcats, badgers, etc. It's just the odds. Occasionally the plague breaks out in an epidemic. Mostly you see that in Arizona, or New Mexico. It's been controlled fairly quickly in those cases. It could easily become a big deal again, but it isn't new. Don't fall for the hype.
Isn't it strange that this NEW danger just happens to show up in the San Gabriel forest where they have been trying to keep prospectors out, and discourage everybody else from using these public lands. Now they come up with this excuse to shut it down.....for ONE freakin squirrel...in 600,000+ acres.
If it works there, how long before they start doing that everyplace else? Same old government thing...scare everybody into giving up your birthrights, whether it's your constitutional rights, or rights to use public lands....first the fear, than the new, restrictive rules.Another scare tactic to lock everyone out of the forest?
