Two Rabid Foxes Attack People 100 Miles Apart in New Hampshire in Separate Incidences
Posted 2024-06-14 by
One attack involved a 4-year-old girl, and the other involved a couple working in their shop yard
New Hampshire residents are undergoing rabies preventative treatment after being attacked by rabid foxes in two separate incidences on the same day nearly 100 miles apart.
According to wmur.com, a fox attacked a 4-year-girl on the afternoon of May 14 in Hollis, New Hampshire. Earlier that morning, a fox attacked a couple in Carrol County.
Police said after the fox attacked the child and before officers arrived, the girl's mother pinned the fox down for about 5 to 10 minutes and received scratches on her arm.
The fox was euthanized and New Hampshire Fish and Game officials took it to a state lab where it tested positive for rabies. The mother and child received treatment and are expected to fully recover.
Almost 100 miles away, Elliot Edwards and Erin Francois were working in their shop yard Tuesday morning when a fox suddenly attacked.
"There was absolutely nothing we could have done to stop it. It was already happening," Francois told wmur.com.
Francois said they were attaching a trailer to their truck in their shop yard when, all of the sudden, a fox was clenched to Edwards' arm. After getting the fox off of Edward’s arm, it charged at them again.
"We do have about 80 acres. You know, we have deer. There's bear prints. We see, you know, lots of wildlife. Definitely never anything that was ever aggressive," Francois said.
After killing the fox, Francois, cleaned Edward’s arm and brought him to the hospital.
There, Edwards got six rabies shots and he also needs three follow-up boosters.
The fox tested positive for rabies.
Captain Michael Eastman of New Hampshire Fish and Game said it’s important to get rabies preventative treatment as soon as possible if bitten or scratched by a wild mammal because rabies is fatal if not treated early.
