Fox bites 5-year-old boy, attacks grandma

WCNC News ^ | 10/14/04

[ambrose]

Fox bites 5-year-old boy, attacks grandma

04:53 PM EDT on Thursday, October 14, 2004

By MARK BOONE / 6NEWS

6NEWS

Michael Howell, 5, poses with a scarecrow.

MINT HILL -- A 5-year-old boy spotted a furry creature in his grandfather's yard in Mint Hill Wednesday and thought it was cat. Michael Howell loves cats, so the kindergartner walked over the pet animal.

“I heard the eeriest scream you've ever heard and I knew my grandson was in trouble,” said Larry Howell, grandfather.

It turns out the cat was a fox. Michael Howell ran inside the house looking for his grandmother and the fox followed.

“I saw the fox had a hold of my wife’s britches just a shaking and a pulling it and I took the pipe and beat him off,” Larry Howell said.

The grandfather grabbed a metal pipe from his workshop and killed the fox.

Michael Howell had teeth marks in his leg from where the fox bit him.

“There's a high likelihood that the fox has rabies,” said Dr. Mary Blinn, Animal Control.

Mecklenburg County fox sightings are not unusual, but they normally attack other animals, not children

“It's totally past the normal behavior of a fox,” Blinn said.

Mark Howell, the boy’s father, said the attack was “the worst thing that's ever happened to a parent.”

Mark Howell said a doctor gave Michael two shots for rabies. A third is scheduled for Saturday, followed by a round of anti-biotics.

The five year-old told his grandfather he won't pet unfamiliar animals again.

“That’s some way to get a lesson,” Larry Howell said.

Animal Control officers shipped the fox to Raleigh, where a lab will try to confirm if the animal had rabies. If lab tests confirm the fox was rabid, it would be the 26th case of rabies in Mecklenburg County this year. That's slightly less than the number of cases this time last year.

Larry Howell said the fox only got a mouthful of his wife’s clothing when it attacked her. The animal did not bite her skin.

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"The pointy kitty bit me"

[Space Wrangler]

“There's a high likelihood that the fox has rabies,” said Dr. Mary Blinn, Animal Control.

I'd say it's almost certain that this animal was rabid. Foxes are very timid animals, and any attempt to approach one will result in the animal fleeing. A fox standing it's ground, and then attacking is unheard of. I see foxes quite a bit in my neck of the woods. You can watch them for long periods of time, but one step in their direction and they are gone.