ding to the Columbia Encyclopedia. Even city dwellers may come across the animal.
But despite the rabies risk, Rozanski said it's rare that a raccoon will attack.
"It's more likely that the raccoon will be attacked [and retaliate], than the other way around," she said.
"The one other thing to at least consider is bats," Rozanski added.
Bats get into many houses from open windows or chimneys. Even a housecat might try to eat a bat, which can bring risk even if the cat is not injured.
"You don't have to have a bite to get rabies because it can be carried in the saliva," said Rozanski.
Many a suburban child has been wowed by the grace and beauty of a common squirrel scaling the bark of a maple tree, at least until Sparky gets maimed by the little rodent.
Squirrels cover most of the world, except Australia and Antarctica, and range in size from five inches, the African pygmy squirrel, to 3 feet long, the Indian giant squirrel, according to National Geographic.
But it doesn't take a giant squirrel to cause some damage. Their small size makes them a tasty treat for carnivorous house pets, but their agility and small but sharp claws make them a tricky meal to catch.
VPI reported that squirrels were the fourth-most common wildlife to attack pets.
But veterinarians treating animals were a little dubious.
"It doesn't make any sense to me. Most of my patients would rip a squirrel limb from limb," said Hohenhaus. "It may be that the dog starts to run after the squirrel and the squirrel hauls off and bites them."
"The only time we see squirrels bit anybody [is if] if they [a dog or cat] corner a squirrel, they may bite," Rozanski said.
Squirrels also have an especially keen group mentality, using a whistling call to warn others of incoming danger, which helps them avoid run-ins with pets.
Every single scorpion attack claim on VPI's database was in Arizona, so that may leaves the other 49 states (perhaps except Hawaii) to breathe easier.
"[With] scorpions, those aren't really anybody's fault," said Rozanski, saying stings likely are a pet's fault for pursuing the critter or a human's fault for letting a pet run wild.
Thirty to 40 species of scorpion can kill a human being with their poison, according to National Geographic. However, scorpion venom generally is tailored to its environment and can inflict serious damage on a range of curious domesticated animals.
These arachnids typically eat insects, but their strong survival tactics allow them live in a variety of conditions and environments.
National Geographic even claims that researchers have kept frozen scorpions overnight, thawed them in the sun and watched them go on like nothing ever happened. Scorpions possess the ability to tremendously slow their metabolism, allowing some species to survive on as little as one insect per year.
The name javelina comes from the Spanish term for sword and accurately represents the sharp tusks this pig-like mammal can use to pierce the skin of other animals.
Also known as a collared peccary, the javelina uses its downward-curved tusks to furiously fight off predators, but generally not to hunt, according to Encyclopedia.com.
This small wild animal eats roots, insects and reptiles alike, though some peccaries have more vicious teeth, allowing them to hunt small animals. The peccary typically is found in the Southwest, as well as Central and South America.
As with the scorpion, VPI only reported javelina attacks in Arizona. The account of one attack, posted on VPI's Web site, talked of a yelp, and then an owner who ran ahead on a hiking trail and "found our dog unmoving, with two adult javelinas ready to attack again."
The owners then discovered baby javelinas and shooed away the two protective parents.
Perhaps the most dangerous part of the incident wasn't the javelina's tusks, but the distance to the nearest veterinary clinic -- nearly two hours away from the hiking trail in the Santa Rita Mountains.
Although less likely to become a top 10, Hohenhaus said vets in the West often have to deal with similar rare and serious attacks from mountain lio