IMO, rabid animals are the wild card in our planning. The real nightmare is rabid bears. I live in Maryland, and a number of years ago, a Maryland family (in their home) was attacked by a rabid black bear, normally a relatively well behaved bread of bear. Here is a link to the story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090501472.html

I've mentioned this incident in previous posts, but I keep bringing it up because I worry that I think there is a tendency to assume that wildlife we meet with will act "normally" for their kind. Rabies changes all that---do we prepare for it or not? If so, how?