DAVIDSON COUNTY, NC (WGHP) — Law enforcement officials and local health departments are getting calls about animals acting strange in their neighborhoods.

In some cases, the calls have warranted a rabies alert.

In Davidson County, there have been three confirmed cases this year. A rabid raccoon was found in the Jackson Hill Neighborhood of Denton in February. A fox was found south of Conrad Hill and tested positive in March.

Earlier this month, a 7-month-old calf had to be euthanized after showing signs of unusual behavior. About a week after that, some fox sightings along Virginia Drive in Thomasville have neighbors concerned.

Homeowners have already seen two of them, and they are concerned there might be even more around the area. One of the foxes believed to be rabid was killed in front of a home, and you can still see holes in the driveway from the bullets.

That homeowner says he has lived here for 60 years and has seen foxes on and off over the years, but he knew something was wrong with this one because it approached him.

It was also the second fox he had seen in just a few days. His neighbors had just killed another fox, believed to be rabid, with a baseball bat. Other neighbors saw the foxes circling around their property as well.

They are all concerned about the pets and the kids in the neighborhood. Rabies is nearly 100 percent fatal in humans, so the health department encourages you to talk to your kids and make sure they don’t go up to wild animals.       

As for pets, the Davidson County Health Department is hosting a free rabies vaccine clinic next week to keep your pets safe.

It’s happening on April 20 at Bethany United Methodist Church in Lexington from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Any pets need to be at least three months old to get the vaccine to protect them from rabid animals.