'It Kept On Biting': Weston Resident Recalls Being Attacked By Rabid Fox
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Cellphone video captured an agitated fox barking when someone got too close. A Weston woman said it was that same fox that attacked her last Monday.
"It was like a high-pitched squeaky cry," she recalled just before the attack.
The woman, who does not want to give her name, said the fox ran under her car when she parked in her driveway. It got her as she stepped out.
"I got out to check what it was and it grabbed my foot. The bite, it kept on biting. It took about 30, 40 seconds until it released the bite off of my leg after me hitting it," she said.
Several days after wildlife officials caught the fox a few doors away the attack got a whole lot worse.
"The health department called me on Friday night and they told me the animal tested positive for rabies," she said.
Because of that bite, the woman is now undergoing a series of rabies shots.
Meanwhile, a good chunk of Weston is under a rabies alert. Because of its proximity to the Everglades, it's not unusual to see wild animals among the well-manicured lawns.
"I went outside and I saw that the fox was standing in the driveway," Xian-Ming Zeng said.
He lives just down the street from the attack. He saw a fox in his driveway too the day before. He doesn't know if it's the same one.
"I would never have imagined there was danger lurking around in the shrubs, woods. I was quite concerned and I feel very lucky that the fox didn't attack me when i was taking a picture of it," Zeng said.
Wildlife experts said aside from people, make sure your pets steer clear of wild animals as they could become targets.
"I am a big advocate on having your pet on a leash that is not retractable because you know never know, they're curious animals," said Mari Diaz with the South Florida Wildlife Center. "If there is this animal that is undergoing this infection you don't want your pet to run at it and bite it and get it in its mouth because it is transmissible."
The rabies alert in Weston will last 60 days.
