GIRL ATTACKED BY RABID BEAVER

(07/28/2003)
Rabies is well-known to inflict raccoons and foxes, but now a positive test has shown rabies in a beaver.

An eight-year-old girl is recovering after being bitten on the hand and leg by a rabid beaver in Jefferson County.

Robin Hays says her daughter was playing along the Shenandoah River behind their Shannondale home on July 11th when the attack occurred. The family was having a pig roast.

The small girl screamed for help as the beaver clamped her hand. The mother shook the beaver loose and the couple ran. She said the beaver chased them, until two men attending the pig roast killed it with a shovel.

DNR picked up the dead animal, reporting it tested positive for rabies.

The girl is receiving treatment on her hand in a Virginia hospital, including reconstructive surgery on tendons, nerves and veins