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Rabid fox bites Spotsy woman
A Spotsylvania woman is recovering after being attacked in her yard by a rabid fox
Date published: 5/15/2008
BY JIM HALL Margaret Burhenn was mowing grass at her Lee's Hill South home last week when she felt something bite her. When she looked down, she saw a fox at her ankle. "I knew right away I was in trouble," she said. Burhenn was bitten repeatedly while wrestling with the fox. A neighbor came to her aid and killed the animal with a shovel. This week Burhenn learned from the Health Department what she suspected all along, that the fox was rabid. She's been receiving treatments at Mary Washington Hospital. "I didn't think that I was the type that would know how to scream," she said. "I found out I was." The number of cases of rabies in wild animals is down this year, compared to last year, according to Lisa Hill, environmental health supervisor for the Rappahannock Area Health District. Still, Burhenn, 66, is the third person in the region to be bitten by a rabid animal this year. And each case is a reminder that, despite the area's growth, residents are still living among unpredictable wild animals. The attack on Burhenn happened at about 5 p.m. May 7, in her yard on Carlyle Court. The fox came from the tree line behind her as she was pushing her mower. She never saw the animal until it bit her. Burhenn said the next few seconds were chaos, with the mower running, her screaming and the fox strangely silent. She repeatedly kicked at the fox to get it away. But it latched onto her shoe, snagging its teeth in her shoelaces. Soon she was on the ground, kicking at the animal and pushing at it with her hands. "Help me, help me, somebody help me," she yelled. At first, no one heard her. And as the seconds ticked away, she began to feel like she was fighting for her life. "I grabbed it around the neck and pushed it to the ground and held it against the ground as hard as I could," she said. The fox bucked up with its rear legs and escaped her grip. When it came at her again, she grabbed it behind the head and pinned it to the ground, trying to suffocate it. Finally, a neighbor, Mike Burton, came running and grabbed a shovel from her garage. "Let it go," Burton told her.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 5/15/2008
mikey..
(posted by
freedomfirst
, May 17, 2008 7:48 am)
See...I was right once again..
P.S. You call this a discussion ? hahahah
I must be bored to be reading this
(posted by
mikester
, May 16, 2008 12:45 pm)
Freedomfirst with another enlightening comment. Which adds so much to the discussion
Dice..it's ok then..
(posted by
freedomfirst
, May 16, 2008 6:46 am)
because all the local illiterates obviously can't read anyway, so they use the FLS website instead,,and therefore the pictures really help them piece the story together. They also tend to post silly stuff in the various threads here...
This has been on the FLS site for a few days now
(posted by
dicerotops
, May 15, 2008 11:15 pm)
In defense of FLS, I saw this on their website a few days ago. They just have pictures now.
Correction
(posted by
thelama
, May 15, 2008 6:12 pm)
It wasn't really a rabid fox. It was former Supervisor Vince Onorato, who was infected with rabies long ago and was reported loose the other day and roaming in the area.
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