5-Year-Old Tries To Pick Up 'Kitty'; Mystery Animal Attacks Him

DETROIT LAKES, MN — It could've been a diseased raccoon. Maybe even a fisher. But police are confident of one thing: It was no "kitty" that latched onto a 5-year-old Minnesota boy's face and left him needing 16 stitches.

Xavier Garza and his brother were playing near their Detroit Lakes home Friday when the critter — described as black with yellow eyes — meandered into the yard, KVVR-TV reported. The animal stared at him.

That's when he decided to try to touch the "kitty," he told KVLY-TV. But the animal went for his face and latched on, scratching or biting him.

"And picked up, he got on my face…and he bite me or scratch,” Xavier told the station.

The boy fought back, pushing and even biting his attacker's ear at one point.

"I pushed him and I bite him," he told the station.

But by then, the damage had been done.

Photos show Xavier suffered multiple deep gashes and bruising to the right side of his face. He had to go to the hospital.

Now authorities and officials are left scratching their heads trying to figure out what, exactly, is capable of such a vicious attack.

Whatever it was, police are confident no typical feline did this.

"The spread between the claws and the marks left on the boy's head were too far apart, they felt, to match up to a normal cat,” city police chief Steve Todd told KVLY-TV.

Wildlife experts believe the attack could've been from a raccoon with distemper or a fisher, said Todd.

But Rob Baden, of the state Department of Natural Resources, told the station it very well could've been a stray cat, which he likened to "wild animals."

"They're different than you know, the average lazy housecat," he said.

The boy, who needed a rabies vaccine, is recovering from the scare. The city has set some traps in hopes of catching his assailant, but officials are asking locals to be alert. They say children should stay away from wild animals.

Photo credit: Geoffrey Kuchera/Shutterstock