Stop the presses! Forget about the economic meltdown. Put aside the growing unemployment numbers. There are more important things to worry about. In yet another display of our media’s appetite for distraction, this piece of gripping news made the CNN homepage: RACCOONS INVADE WHITE HOUSE.

I thought, Cool, and clicked on the article (I voted for the other guy, BTW). After seeing Hollywood level the White House via flying saucer death ray and the next Ice Age, I couldn’t wait to see what raccoons would do (a sad commentary, I know). I’ll admit I was a little disappointed to find an article about a sneaky band of raccoons that have moved onto the White House grounds in the last few weeks and have managed to evade capture. I guess with W and his gun-toting associates gone, the raccoons figure the place is theirs for the taking.

Why is this in an Injury.com blog? Simple. I’m, uh, getting to that. Animal attacks claim a high number of lives each year in the U.S. Do they deserve an orange terror alert? You decide.

Between 1979 and 1990, 1,882 people died from animal-inflicted wounds, 157 average per year:

·         Venomous animals – 718 deaths

·         Non-venomous animals – 1,164 deaths

·         Majority of victims were white males

·         Majority of deaths were at home

Lessons learned:

·         Snakes and spiders get a bad rap; watch out for hamsters.

·         Animals want to kill white males more than other human beings

·         Home is not so safe after all