New Jersey Mother Attacked By Fox, Repeatedly Bitten While Holding Her 2-Year-Old Daughter
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A New Jersey woman is recovering after being bitten several times by a fox that may have rabies.
She was attacked in the yard of her Morris Plains home on Wednesday.
"I was screaming for help," Sally Deeney said.
Excruciating pain shooting through her legs is how Deeney described being attacked by the fox.
She said it happened as she was gardening. Her two-year-old daughter was right next to her when all of a sudden she spotted the animal.
"It was low it was kind of crawling slow and very muddy and I realized the fur was red. I had time to stand up and pick up my two-year-old and hold her in the air," the mother told CBS2's Marc Liverman.
The fox bit her right in the thigh. All while Deeney held her daughter over her head and out of harm's way.
"Yeah I can't think… she's small and it would have been in her face," Deeney added.
"I was shaking it off and screaming for help and it would just drop down, turn around and jump right back up at me."
Deeney said even after she kicked the animal, it kept coming back at her, over and over again.
"Bit me in the other leg and the thigh and again clamped on and I shook it off."
After a relentless struggle with the furry attacker, one of Deeney's neighbors came running from across the street.
Good Samaritans yelled and waved their arms at the creature; enough to get the fox to slowly walk back into the woods near the Deeney home.
The attack left Deeney with deep wounds on both her thighs.
"Some are deeper than others, I've had some stitches," she explained.
The mother's deepest fear now – her daughter was just inches away from the animal's snout.
Police are still searching for the animal and haven't said if it was rabid. They're asking everyone in the area to pay closer attention to what's going on around them.
"Watch out for your kids and your pets when you're outdoors," Lt. Michael Koroski of the Morris Plains Police Department recommended.
Authorities said if you see a fox, keep as much distance between you and the animal as possible.