University Police Services shot and killed a suspected rabid raccoon near the sidewalk in front of Eisenhower Auditorium early yesterday morning, said Wayne Weaver, University police supervisor.

Several people called University police shortly after 7:30 a.m. and reported seeing a raccoon at different areas surrounding the auditorium, Weaver said. Police discovered the animal in bushes near the sidewalk several minutes later.

The large adult raccoon exhibited "the typical signs" of rabies in its early stages by wandering out of the woods during the day --despite being a nocturnal animal --and showing no fear toward humans, Weaver said.

"We don't destroy an animal unless we believe it has rabies," Weaver said.

The raccoon was killed with one shot, removed from the area and will be destroyed, Weaver said.

The animal will not be tested for rabies because it is not suspected to have come in contact with any other animals or humans, Weaver said.

"There is no reason to believe (the raccoon) had contact with any others," Weaver said.

Several animals suspected of carrying rabies are exterminated each year, Weaver said. But they are only tested if officials can prove the animal made contact with another animal or human.

Dr. John Thomas, a veterinarian at Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital, 200 Elmwood St., said testing an animal that is not believed to have come in contact with others is useless.

Because of a rabies epidemic in Central Pennsylvania, many wild animals, such as raccoons, foxes and squirrels, have rabies and testing an animal to confirm that it has rabies is time consuming and needless, Thomas said.

"Unless there has been human exposure, there is no reason to test them," Thomas said. "We know there's rabies. So there's no sense in testing one that hasn't bitten a person."