In a story about Mack Edge, it states that his pet squirrel named Walter bit him on his finger, and the wound did not heal. Mack eventually went to a doctor in Milton who apparently removed his finger (“When he returned he had the finger in a bottle”) and told him he had untreatable rabies. The story continues, “He had his wife lock him in a room when he got to the point of losing control. He died soon after.”
As stated previously in an earlier blog, family stories are often faulty but they are rarely distorted on purpose. Just like the telephone game, oral histories get embellished and twisted to the point that the current stories bear little resemblance to the original events. This is not to criticize anyone, but the truth should always prevail if known.
The problem with the above story is that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ” Small rodents like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs including rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.”
If Mack Edge died such a horrible, painful death, it was most likely from another cause, not because little Walter bit him.
Source: The Heritage of Walton County, Florida, Heritage Publishing Consultants, Clanton, AL, 2006, p. 156-157.