VERGENNES — Another animal acting strangely was shot in Vergennes last week, this time a skunk in the Ice House Court neighborhood on Jan. 25 by a game warden, but there remains no concrete evidence that the animals emerging recently are diseased, according to Vergennes Police Chief George Merkel.
Merkel on Monday received the results of testing on one animal shot two weeks ago. The chief said he was told the test showed no evidence of rabies, although the official result read the result was “indeterminate.”
Merkel added the warden who shot the skunk as a precaution told him the animal did not appear sick.
Wildlife officials are theorizing that the unseasonably warm stretches of weather are interfering with animals’ winter hibernation, causing them to wake up and be disoriented, according to Merkel, who still advised caution in approaching any animals.
In other incidents between Jan. 23 and 20, Vergennes police:
•  On Jan. 23 dealt with a minor two-car accident at the intersection of Main Street and Monkton Road.
•  On Jan. 23 had the owner of a car left in a Main Street business lot move it.
•  On Jan. 23 cited Kyle Lester William, 27, of Huntington for driving with a suspended license and ticketed him for possession of 7.9 grams of marijuana and paraphernalia, which they found after obtaining a warrant when they said William refused to grant consent to search his car. Police said they also found tubes of a substance they suspect is hash oil, which they sent to be tested, and that a positive test could result in further charges. They stopped his car after the department’s license plate reader indicated the car’s owner had a suspended license.
•  On Jan. 24 ticketed a car left on streets in violation of the city’s wintertime overnight parking ban.
•  On Jan. 25 ticketed a driver for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
•  On Jan. 25 helped a motorist get into a locked car on Main Street.
•  On Jan. 25 contacted a Panton family to let them know a relative had been hospitalized in Connecticut.
•  On Jan. 25 saw a screen was missing from the window of a Short Street home, but learned there was no problem and left a note for the homeowner.
•  On Jan. 26 took a report that a woman had fallen outside the City Limits bar and hurt her lip, and that her purse had apparently been stolen. Police are investigating the theft.
Early the next morning a friend brought the woman to the station and said she was drunk and difficult to deal with, and police noticed she was holding the back of her head and was apparently injured. They called the Vergennes Area Rescue Squad, which took her to Porter Hospital.
•  On Jan. 26 checked the welfare of a pet at a Second Street home at the request of VARS, which had taken the homeowner to the hospital. Police spoke to a family member and learned the pet was being cared for.
•  On Jan. 26 heard from a woman that she was worried about her involvement in a Chittenden County court case and would like police to keep an eye on her; police said they are doing so.
•  On Jan. 27 ticketed a woman for marijuana and paraphernalia after being alerted by Kinney Drug employees she had left a pocketbook at the store containing those items.
•  On Jan. 27 cited Roberto B. Manembo, 27, of Ferrisburgh for driving under the influence of alcohol, test refusal, after a Monkton Road stop. Police, who allege he was weaving on the road before they stopped him, also cited him for driving to the right and possession of marijuana.
•  On Jan. 28 heard allegations from a mother and daughter that the daughter had hit her stepdad and the stepdad had hit the daughter during two visits at the mother’s First Street home, one late on Saturday and another early on Sunday. Police said due to conflicting stories they did not cite anyone, but issued no-trespass orders to the daughter and her boyfriend. The mother also alleged they vandalized a snowmobile on her property, a charge city police referred to the state’s attorney’s office for possible prosecution.
•  On Jan. 29 heard complaints from two tenants about another tenant at a Spring Street apartment building. Police contacted the landlord.
•  On Jan. 29 responded to a report of two people on a Shade Roller Building fire escape, but they were gone when police arrived.