I've spent my whole life messing around in the woods and on the water, and I've had more run-ins with wildlife than I can count. Beavers just ain't one I've ever worried about. They're big rodents that slap their tails and go about their business building dams. You see them on float trips down in the Ozarks all the time, and mostly they just want nothing to do with you.

So the news out of Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland catches my attention. Two people got bitten by beavers in less than two weeks, and both animals tested positive for rabies. The park had to partially shut down over it.

Any wild animal can carry rabies, but you don't hear about it in beavers much. You think raccoons, skunks, foxes, bats. Those are your usual suspects. A beaver with rabies is a whole different kind of problem. In my experience a healthy beaver wants nothing to do with people and keeps its distance. A rabid one doesn't act right. It loses its natural fear, gets aggressive, and comes at you. And a beaver's front teeth are nothing to take a chance on. You do not want those anywhere near your skin.

The fact that it happened twice, with two separate animals, at the same park, tells me this ain't just bad luck. From what I understand about how rabies works in a local area, when it shows up in one animal it can hit others in the same vicinity around the same time. The park officials did the right thing shutting things down till they can figure out what's going on out there.

If you've never thought about what rabies actually does, let me paint you a picture. It attacks the nervous system. Once symptoms show up, it's almost always fatal in humans. Almost. Not sometimes. Almost always. That's why they treat possible exposures so aggressively with the post-exposure shots. You don't wait around to see if the animal was sick. You assume it was and you go get treated.

I've had to deal with rabies protocol once, years ago, after a bat found its way into a cabin I was staying in up in the Mark Twain National Forest. Woke up with it flying circles over the bunk. Couldn't be sure it hadn't scratched or nipped me while I was sleeping, so the county health department put me through the series. Wasn't fun, but it beat the alternative by a long shot.

For folks who spend time outdoors, any wild animal acting strange is a red flag. A raccoon walking toward you in broad daylight. A fox that seems disoriented. A beaver that swims up to you instead of away. Don't try to shoo it off or get a better look. Back out and report it to park staff or your local game warden. And if something does bite you, wash the wound thorough and get to a doctor. Don't tough it out. This is one of those things where waiting can literally cost you your life.

Cunningham Falls is a beautiful park from what I hear, and I'm sure it'll be fine once they get this sorted out. But right now, if you're planning a trip that direction, check the park alerts before you go. The woods will still be there when they open things back up.