Just two days ago I wrote about a potentially rabid fox attacking a jogger in Prescott, Arizona. Now comes word that a potentially rabid gray fox attacked church goers in South Carolina. When I lived near Klamath in rural Del Norte County, I saw zillions of foxes, including once when I saw four in my yard at the same time. They never caused any problems (except for crapping all over the place, especially on my picnic table).
Anyway, here’s the fox-attack update from www.goupstate.com:
A gray fox caused quite a stir at Liberty Baptist Church on Wednesday evening when it attacked a child and several worshippers, and now only rabies testing will tell whether the ordeal is over.
The fox had gone inside the fellowship hall, where several men and women tried to scare it back outside. Not fazed, the fox continued to snap, bite and scratch, so several adults used metal chairs to hit it and protect themselves.
At one point, the injured fox ran outside, but ran back into the hallway of the main church building before members of the church could again force the animal out into the parking lot. At least four people were scratched by the animal outside as they tried to keep it away from the church buildings.
“This fox was so aggressive, so persistent, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Duncan said. “The fox couldn’t be spooked.”
Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Director Don Arnold said the fox was badly injured when officers arrived at the Bishop Road church, and it died shortly afterward. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is performing tests to determine whether the animal was rabid, and the results should be available today, said spokesman Adam Myrick.
Have you ever had problems with foxes, major or minor? Please share them with us.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
LOL! No problem with foxes down here in the Bay Area, but my front yard does look like it’s been plowed (no joke), thanks to a small family of raccoons. Evidently I have the only yard on the block with lots of yummy grubs, and the easiest way for the raccoons to get at the grubs is to strip the sod. They’re quite good at it, too.
Twitter: @TheJohnSoares
I really appreciate raccoons: they have such an independent streak, and they just seem to do what they want.
We have bunches of them around Lake Shastina. At least one comes on my porch every night. Recently one pawed the pumpkin.
Last winter a bird feeder disappeared. I told Stephanie that raccoons took it, but she didn’t believe me. A month later I found the bird feeder two hundred yards away.
Darn right I didn’t believe you…figured you were tired of filling the feeder with seed all the time and you strategically placed it elsewhere. Sorry, I didn’t believe you, love.
Now that pumpkin certainly surprised me…seeing little teeth marks on the side of it’s rounded cheek!
Twitter: @TheJohnSoares
Sweetie, you know I love the little birdies!
I think raccoons are responsible for a lot of the weird stuff you find in the middle of nowhere, especially shiny things.
the poor fox must be hungry