They're dropping 600,000 fishy treats over the Blue Ridge — each one a rabies vaccine for raccoons

Across the mountains of western North Carolina, thousands of small fish-scented packets are raining down from helicopters and planes — and each one carries a vaccine. Health officials and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are dropping around 600,000 oral rabies vaccines through October 22, from the Asheville area to the far reaches of 18 mountain counties. The packets are coated in fishmeal to tempt raccoons; one bite punctures the packet and vaccinates the animal from the inside out. The goal: keep the Appalachians as a natural wall — raccoon rabies simply doesn't exist west of them — so pets, wildlife, and people stay protected. The packets are harmless to people, pets, and wildlife, and the program has run quietly every year since the 1990s.