Rabid otter bites Florida man 41 times while he was feeding birds
Otters are known for their cute, cuddly faces seen in viral videos of them holding hands as they float atop peaceful seas all wrapped up in kelp blankets. Not this Florida otter.
A rabid otter attacked and bit a Florida man 41 times while the man was feeding birds at a pond near his home according to the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control and WPBF. The otter also attacked a dog on a walk with its family the same day.
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control responded to the calls on September 20 in Jupiter, on Florida's east coast.
Local residents had helped capture the animal by trapping it under a recycling bin and securing it with cinderblocks before the officials arrived, according to the case report by Palm Beach County ACC. It tested positive for rabies days later.
USA TODAY has reached out to Palm Beach County ACC for more information about the animal's status.
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'It kept on, like, lunging forward'
Joseph Scaglione, 74, told WPTV that he was feeding ducks at a nearby pond moments before the attack.
As he turned to go back to his home, he heard the ducks fly away and found an otter had caused the commotion. He tried to back away slowly, still facing the creature, but it attacked just before he could close the gate to his yard, he said.
He was bit more than 40 times on his arms, hands and legs. At one point the otter latched onto his hand, piercing the flesh between his thumb and his index finger, pushing Scaglione grabbed it by the neck.
"I started to push it away, and it started to bite my hands," Scaglione told WPTV. "One of the bites I have is on my pinkie and it ripped the nail off the pinkie. [It] looks like the tooth went completely through my finger."
He was transported to the hospital for treatment and is recovering, according to WPTV.
The otter's rampage through Jupiter, Florida
The otter also attacked a dog in Jupiter, according to a release by the Florida Department of Health.
In video obtained by WPTV, the otter was also playing with an object on someone's back deck.
"It was so cute, we didn't want it to be rabid," a resident told WPTV. "But it just looked like there was something wrong. Like it was ill the way it was acting."
Once captured, the animal was baring its teeth and biting the metal of the carrier, according to the Palm Beach County ACC report. The agency said it was approximately 3 years old and weighed 15 pounds.
The agency tested the animal, a process that requires taking a sample of the animal's brain and inspecting it under a microscope. The results came back three days later that the animal was positive for rabies, according to Palm Beach County ACC assistant director David Walesky.
What is rabies? How to stay safe
"Rabies is a disease of the nervous system and is fatal to warm blooded animals and humans if not treated," FDOH said in the release. It also issued the following advice:
- Keep rabies vaccinations up to date for all pets.
- Keep your pets under direct supervision so they do not come in contact with wild animals.
- Call your local animal control agency to remove any stray animals from your neighborhood.
- Do not handle, feed, or unintentionally attract wild animals with open garbage cans or litter.
- Never adopt wild animals or bring them into your home.
- Teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly.
Contributing:Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post