Woman Attacked By Rabid Beaver In Falls Church, VA By Steve from washington, dc, usa (American Beaver) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Rabid Beaver Attacks Elderly Woman While Swimming
An elderly woman’s decision to take a late night swim in Falls Church, VA turned almost deadly when she was suddenly attacked by a 50-pound rabid beaver in Fairfax County Lake, reports .
83-year old Lillian Peterson was coming out the water when the animal unexpectedly charged at her and began biting her leg.
A nearby fisherman who saw what was happening quickly came to Peterson’s assistance and began beating the beaver with a tree branch.
She is calling the unidentified fisherman her life saver and says that she believes she would have wound up dead had not the man been able to stun the creature and get him away from her by striking him with the branch.
Fairfax County Animal Control officers arrived on the scene and euthanized the animal.
The elderly woman was treated by medical authorities and her wounds have been bandaged.
She is recuperating at home and has not commented on whether or not she will ever take an unescorted late night lake swim again.
Not the fist beaver attack this summer
A rabid beaver attacked Boy Scout troop leader Norman Brousseau as he was swimming in the Delaware River with four scouts in July.
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports the beaver swam between the man’s legs and bit him on the torso, arm, hand, leg and buttocks.
The Scouts managed to pull Brousseau to shore and beat the beaver to death with rocks.
Sharon Brown a biologist and director of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife who has raised and aided beavers for more than 20 years assures the public that beavers are still vegetarian and attacks are not on the rise, reports the Washington Examiner.
“Beaver attacks are not on the rise,” she said. “It’s just not something beavers usually do.
