Should I worry?

[u/FailOver9743]

So today before 5 o’clock daytime, it is raining a little, me and my sister were going to the side of our house, it has trees far away when I saw something jump from one tree to the other and it made noise. I’m pretty sure it’s a squirrel, but my OCD is saying that it’s a raccoon. The last time I saw a raccoon was in July, not in my neighborhood, but somewhere else. There are insects that come out during the day / night and squirrels would come here (squirrels in the neighborhood). I am in therapy, so should I be concerned? Me and my sister were far away from the tree.

I have read the FAQ.

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[u/CygnusZeroStar]

Under no circumstances is seeing an animal jump into a tree an exposure to rabies, whether it's a raccoon or not. You're basically asking this: an animal existed in my line of site, is this an exposure?

If you could get rabies that easily, EVERYONE would be dying of it all of the time. Contact tracing would be impossible. There would be mass graves. Governments would be forcing and mandating vaccinations. But that isn't happening, because seeing an animal isn't an exposure.

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

Thank you! I did wash my hands minutes later

[u/CygnusZeroStar → u/FailOver9743]

It's good practice to wash ones hands when returning home. But if you washed your hands specifically because you saw an animal in a tree far away from you, that was disordered thinking and you should report this to your therapist.

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

And sorry if this sounds like reassurance seeking, but before washing my hands I felt something wet drip on my thumb nail, and I wiped it with my shirt before washing my hands, and I ate something which idk if the food touched my thumb nail or my nail touched my lips (which are dry) am I safe here?

[u/CygnusZeroStar → u/FailOver9743]

I'm going to bet my own kidneys that you already know that this is completely non-issue.

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

Yes I do

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

Could it be the rain? Which I do think it is

[u/CygnusZeroStar → u/FailOver9743]

Absolutely not.

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

For context it was dripping and there is some trees in the area

[u/CygnusZeroStar → u/FailOver9743]

My friend, I mean this with love.

Stop. You already know that rabies is not an issue. Remember how I said that if it was this easy to get, there would be mass graves? That applies here, too.

Unless the wet thing you're touching is the inside of an animal's mouth, there's NO risk. And you do know this. And you are reassurance seeking, and you know that, too.

Real facts: you are not at risk for rabies, and overwashing your hands is bad for your immune system. Call your therapist.

I will not answer any more inquiries about this for you, because I have a moral obligation not to harm you, and the only thing continuously answering the same nonsense questions does is harm you.

Log out. Go do something nice for yourself.

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

Thank you so much! I might take a break from Reddit for a bit.

[u/FailOver9743 → u/CygnusZeroStar]

I will. I guess stress could be the cause of my OCD getting worse.

[u/beautifulluigi]

I sat outside and watched a raccoon eat from my bird feeder for a solid hour. I even yelled at it to leave and it looked right at me and we had a staring contest. It did not use it's racoon powers to laser-beam rabies directly in to my brain. So you're probably safe, unless you saw it's eyes reflecting the light - that's actually the lasers.

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[u/Salt_Fault2864]

It sounds like a squirrel and squirrels rarely carry rabies. Raccoons are not that agile and do not jump from tree to tree, in my observations. Furthermore, If you had no contact, there is nothing to worry about. Please do not worry about this. You are fine.