Rabid fox attacks woman in Fries

FRIES — After being attacked by a rabid gray fox, a family in Fries managed to kill the ferocious animal on their porch.

According to Fries Police Chief Bobby Jones, a woman approached him outside his home in Fries last Thursday around 11:30 a.m.

Jones said the woman had been cut badly and kept saying a raccoon had attacked her.

The woman was on her way to Twin County Regional Hospital — where she was treated and received several stitches for her wounds — and asked Jones to go look for the animal.

Jones said he called for assistance from Grayson Animal Control Officer Glen Richardson, but neither could find what was later determined to be a gray fox.

Jones said that later in the day, the same family was chased back inside their home by the fox after it tried to attack the family’s small dog.

According to Jones, the family managed to get inside safely, but the fox began beating its head on the front door trying to get in.

Animals affected by rabies tend to be overly aggressive and try to bite.

From inside the home, Jones said the family was able to shoot and kill the fox.

Tests conducted on the animal determined it was rabid.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the brain and the nervous system of an animal.

Humans are able to contract the disease if bitten by a rabid animal. The disease is passed on by getting the rabid animal’s saliva in the eyes, nose or mouth — or if the saliva gets into a human’s or other animal’s open cut, scratch or wound.

• To report a suspected rabid animal, call Officer Richardson through the Grayson Sheriff’s Office at (276) 773-3241 or 236-9988.