A rabid raccoon found in Eastham last November likely came from an area around the New York-Pennsylvania border.
The raccoon was left by the entrance of the Wild Care center with porcupine quills in its muzzle and arm and a cloth draped over it.
DNA and genetic sequencing of the rabies virus by the CDC determined where the raccoon came from, but how it ended up on Cape Cod is unknown.
The last case of raccoon rabies on Cape Cod was in 2021 and before that it was 2013.
(Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP / Getty Images