Fox Attacks Southington Resident, Then Found To Be Rabid: Report

SOUTHINGTON, CT — A fox, shot and killed by a Southington resident after an attack over the weekend, has tested positive for rabies, police said.

At 8:40 a.m. Saturday, Southington police, animal control officers and an ambulance crew responded to a home on Meriden Avenue after the resident said he was attacked by a fox.

The man told police he heard wild turkeys making noise in his yard and went outside to see what was alarming them, according to a report. He then saw a fox and, as the turkeys began to flee, the fox charged the man and bit him on the ankle, according to a report.

The fox held onto the bite, but the resident was able to make his way back inside the home and close a slider door on the fox's neck, police said.

The man was able to break free from the bite and, as another resident held the door in place to prevent the fox from entering the home, the man grabbed a pellet gun and shot and killed the fox, according to a report.

The man was treated at the scene by an ambulance crew for the bite and then treated at an area medical center, police said.

The dead fox was taken to the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health Epidemiology
Laboratory, where it was tested for rabies, according to a report.

The test came back positive, a report indicates.

"Although the public should always be careful around wildlife and unknown animals, this appears to be an isolated event," police said while adding the fox is "the first animal in Southington to test positive for rabies in several years."

See more about foxes in Connecticut here.