Overview:
A series of encounters with a fox that tested positive for rabies and subsequent sightings of another fox acting strangely in the same area have led authorities to set out traps and warn the public in Enfield, New Hampshire. A mother and child were attacked by a rabid fox, and a second fox attack was reported on Thursday. Rabies is a fatal disease, and people should avoid physical contact with an animal suspected of carrying rabies. Officials said attacks by rabid animals on people are very rare, but prompt medical treatment following potential exposure is critical to preventing illness.
ENFIELD — A series of encounters with a fox that tested positive for rabies, and subsequent sightings of another fox acting strangely in the same area have put residents on edge and led authorities to set out traps and warn the public.
A mother and child were attacked Sunday, Aug. 17, by a rabid fox near Bud Mil Road and Meadow Lane. The animal was killed by the mother’s husband Sunday evening and tested positive for rabies Tuesday.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health contacted six people who had contact with the rabid fox killed last Sunday, according to Kathy Remillard, deputy communications director.
On Wednesday evening, Enfield Police began receiving reports of another fox in the area that was acting out of sorts.
Late Thursday afternoon, a fox attacked residents in the same area, Enfield Police Chief Roy Holland said Friday morning. Both Enfield police and state Fish and Game officers are checking traps and increasing patrols in the area to find the animal.
“We are definitely concerned,” Holland said. “One rabid fox should cause you to pay a little closer attention. When we get a second one we need to contain that issue as much as we can.”
While officials said attacks by rabid animals on people are very rare, rabies is a fatal disease. People should avoid physical contact with an animal suspected of carrying rabies, and if there’s physical contact, such as a scratch or a bite, treatment is essential.
The first hunt began Sunday when a resident called the Enfield Police Department around 3 p.m. after a gray fox had aggressively approached at him and he fended it off with a stick, Holland said.
“We spent the next several hours trying to locate the fox and started setting up traps for the fox when we got another call that it had attacked a mother and her child,” Holland said.
The rabies virus attacks the brain, and rabid animals will sometimes act strangely and approach humans, abnormal behavior for wildlife, said Lt. James Kneeland, district 3 chief at New Hampshire Fish and Game. People often mistake rabies for mange, a skin disease that affects mammals.
“At certain stages of rabies they’re acting a little more aggressive,” Kneeland said in a Friday phone interview. “The mange, they tend to act normally but they don’t look good.”
Megan Daley was unaware that a rabid fox was in the neighborhood when she and her sons were playing outside Sunday.
“The fox came out of the woods behind our garden running for my one-year-old in attack mode. I tried to swat it away with my shoe multiple times, but it had no regard to the blows,” Daley wrote in a Facebook message. “It lunged for my one-year-old and had ahold of his arm as I got ahold of the fox. I was bitten as I pulled its mouth open off my one-year-old’s arm. I then held it to the ground until my husband got home to assist.”
Megan’s husband, John Daley, killed the fox with his pocket knife. The family went to the emergency room where they started undergoing the rabies vaccine series.
“Both my one-year-old and myself thankfully have very minor injuries,” Daley wrote. “Had I not been standing next to him when the fox emerged from the woods, his injuries could have been significant.”
On Tuesday, the town received confirmation from a lab in Concord that the fox had tested positive for rabies.
On Wednesday night, Enfield police received a call about another fox in Enfield that was “acting strange,” Holland said. Officers set up a few Havahart traps, which catch an animal, but do not kill it.
Rabid animals are hard to trap because they aren’t as attracted to food, Kneeland said. He arrived in Enfield Friday morning and has been patrolling the woods off Route 4A near Glen and Bud Mil roads and Meadow Lane with a shotgun.
Absent human intervention, rabies will run its course and kill the infected animal, usually in a short period of time, Kneeland said during a phone interview while he was walking in the woods. “In the meantime we don’t want other people or pets, domestic animals, coming in contact with it,” he said.
On Thursday evening, John Daley encountered another rabid fox and kicked it away, Megan Daley wrote in a Friday Facebook message.
Residents who live in the area remain on high alert. Carol Wyman, who lives on Meadow Lane with her husband, Charles, said she’s spending more time indoors and won’t even go outside to water her plants.
“I’m just not going for a stroll in the yard. I’m not walking my dog,” Wyman said in a Friday phone interview. “I don’t want to invite trouble.”
Her husband has taken to carrying a baseball bat when he walks around their property.
“That’s what everyone in the neighborhood … if you go out, you carry a bat with you or whatever you have,” Wyman said. On Friday morning, she saw law enforcement officers searching for the fox. “It’s really kind of odd to come out your front door and see people walking down your street with shotguns.”
After the first fox attack, Megan Daley posted in a community Facebook group to inform the public about the fox she and her family encountered. Other residents replied about encounters they had with the animal.
“With any situation it’s important to be aware of your surroundings. Social media can be a wonderful avenue when it comes to public safety,” Megan Daley wrote. “I hope that this unfortunate situation, with many families impacted, encourages community members to be more outspoken about unusual activity in the area. I have also advocated that there be more forthcoming information when reports are made.”
Wyman said neighbors also have started an email chain to exchange information about the sightings. She appreciates the way people are looking out for each other.
While not unheard of, rabid animal attacks on people are rare, New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer Eric Brown said in a Thursday phone interview. “Typically it’s their domestic dogs, the pets that go and interact with the animals basically,” he said
Enfield Police respond to several calls a year about animals “acting out of sorts,” Holland said.
“In 25 years this is the first item we’ve had one come back from the lab that tested positive for rabies,” Holland said.
It is also the first positive rabies test Brown has dealt with this year in Conservation District 3, which includes parts of Grafton, Sullivan, Merrimack and Belknap counties. Of the six that’s he sent for testing, only the fox in Enfield came back positive.
“If a fox runs through your backyard and you go out to your backyard, there’s no rabies concern there,” Brown said. “You have to have actual contact with the animal.”
Fish and Game officials are more likely to come in contact with solitary animals, usually after they’ve been killed, said Kneeland, who has been with the department for 33 years. Then, they transport them to the New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories in Concord to get them tested for rabies.
“Typically in most situations that ends the ordeal, but unfortunately here we’re dealing with multiple foxes in the local area that are infected,” Kneeland said. “My hope is if we don’t get any more calls today or tomorrow, it’s crawled into a rock pile somewhere and it’s deceased.”
This year, a total of 18 animals in New Hampshire have tested positive for rabies, Remillard, the Health Department spokesperson, said.
Rabies is fatal for both animals and humans, according to a Tuesday news release from the Enfield Police Department. People can catch it by being scratched or bitten by rabid animals.
“Prompt medical treatment following potential exposure is critical to preventing illness,” according to the release. “If you or your pet have come into contact with a fox in this area of town, it is strongly urged that you consult with your health care provider or veterinarian.”
RayLynn Bradigan, president of Shaker Field Dog Park off Route 4A and new executive director of the Upper Valley Humane Society, both located in Enfield, urged people to make sure their pets are up to date on their rabies vaccines.
“Having your pets vaccinated for rabies is a requirement, but also is overly important to their health,” Bradigan said in a Friday morning phone interview. She also urged pet owners to remain vigilant. “Like any other time, be aware of your surroundings when you’re with your dog and make sure that they’re safe.”
Those with questions about rabies or concerns that they’ve been exposed should contact their medical providers or call the New Hampshire Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at 603-271-4496. People who find or suspect they’ve seen an animal with rabies can call New Hampshire Fish and Game dispatch at 603-271-3361.