Girl attacked by rabid beaver

Sunday Gazette Mail ^ | 7-27-03 | AP

[steveo]

SHANNONDALE, W.Va. (AP) -- An 8-year-old girl had reconstructive surgery on her hand after being attacked by a rabid beaver in Jefferson County earlier this month.

Robin Hays' said her daughter, Maddison, was playing along the Shenandoah River behind their Shannondale home on July 11 when the attack occurred.

"We were getting ready for a pig roast, and she was down there playing,'' Hays told The Journal in Martinsburg. "Suddenly, I heard a blood-curdling scream.''

Hays saw the beaver clamped onto her daughter's hand, then shook her arm to get it free, grabbed her daughter and ran.

The beaver chased them, she said, and two men attending the pig roast cornered the animal and killed it with a shovel.

Hays' daughter, who suffered bites on her leg and hand, was initially treated at Jefferson Memorial Hospital.

A specialist at Loudoun County Hospital in Virginia provided treatment on her hand that included reconstructive surgery on the tendons, nerves and veins, Hays said. Maddison's hand was in a partial cast, and she could move her fingers but not her thumb, Hays said.

"She's doing very well,'' Hays said.

State Division of Natural Resources officers took the dead animal, Hays said.

The animal's brain was sent to the Jefferson County Health Department, and then to a lab in Charleston where it tested positive for rabies, the newspaper reported.

While rabies is common in that area, beaver attacks are rare, said Lisa Dunn, the health department's sanitarian supervisor.

AP-ES-07-27-03 1206EDT

[steveo]

no comment

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Take a look at this one!

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

So they were rough on the beaver.

[skr]

Prayers for Maddison.

[RichInOC]

...hold my beaver?

[hellinahandcart]

Well, before the onslaught of beaver jokes happens, let me just say "YEOWCH! That poor girl!"

Beavers can chew trees in half, imagine what those teeth would do to human flesh.

And the girl had to have the whole rabies series too, Ill bet.

[Paul Atreides]

If only the same could happen to Bill.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Asking the ones who know, does she still automatically get the rabies series of shots or is there a test they give her before doing it? Are there still plenty of shots that have to be given or have they improved the treatment over the years?

My prayers go out to her.

[hellinahandcart]

So they were rough on the beaver.

No, they really gave it to the beaver.

[oceanperch]

Ouch.

[hellinahandcart]

I think it's still a series of shots right in the stomach...

[rolling_stone]

Girl attacked by rabid beaver

From the title, I thought it was just another athlete acting badly....

[SarahW]

Rabies shots aren't so bad anymore; I've had 'em. (bat encounter). The worst part was the Immunoglobulin shots at the wound site.

[Bon mots]

I think there's a new series of only 5 shots now as opposed to the couple of dozen it used to take.

[Paul Atreides]

The beaver chased them, she said, and two men attending the pig roast cornered the animal and killed it with a shovel.

They'll be lucky if there aren't any reprisals.

[Libertina]

Too late, LOL they were posted before you could get your comment in. Figures :)

[SarahW]

NO, it's a fine needle in the upper arm (and you switch arms between shots) and many fewer shots than were once required. The first treatment is the worst, because you get extra IgG shots (not vaccine) the number of which varies on your weight.

[Henrietta]

I will not make an off-color comment about this post

I will not make an off-color comment about this post

I will not make an off-color comment about this post

[palmer]

A specialist at Loudoun County Hospital in Virginia provided treatment on her hand that included reconstructive surgery on the tendons, nerves and veins

They should have just covered it in cow dung.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

That's what I was wondering. Still doesn't sound like a pleasant experience.