Following is a CNN report on an attack by a rabid animal, in this case a fox. Not long ago a similar story ran about a man killing a rabid bob cat. Is seems this is going to be a "hot" summer - one where rabies effects a significant number of animals.
Please use great caution with any animal, wild or domestic, that is behaving in an unusual way. Do not pick up and handle sick animal you might find. If bitten by any mammal try to contain it for animal control or the health department - and be sure to see a doctor ASAP.
KINGSTOWN, North Carolina (AP) -- A 5-year-old boy grabbed a rabid fox by the neck and pinned it to the ground during a family cookout, protecting six other children until his stepfather could kill the animal.
"I wanted to protect my little brother," said Rayshun McDowell, who battled the fox in the front yard of his home Sunday in Kingstown, a town about 50 miles west of Charlotte.
The fox bit Rayshun in the leg, but the 61-pound-boy held the animal down for more than a minute. Animal control officials said Tuesday that test results confirmed the fox had rabies, which is fatal unless treated before symptoms appear. Rayshun is undergoing treatment.
"I looked out the window and Rayshun had the fox by the neck and was pushing it into the ground," said his mother, Shinda Linder. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing." Watch as the boy shows where the fox bit him ยป
Rayshun's stepfather, Ryan Thompson, pulled the boy off the animal and kicked it. A neighbor fired a handgun three times but the fox continued to advance.
Thompson, wearing a cast because of a broken leg, said he used a stick and his crutch to beat the fox to death.
Rayshun, meanwhile, asked only for a Band-Aid and didn't complain of any pain.
"Rayshun was really calm and wasn't upset," his mother said. "I couldn't believe he would do something like that. He was so brave, and I was a wreck."
Rabies attacks the nervous system and is transmitted through saliva. It often makes animals aggressive. A 6-year-old girl who was attacked by a fox the same day at her home nearby also is being treated.
