Great Falls Woman, 71, Fights Off Fox That Attacked Her: Police

GREAT FALLS, VA — A 71-year-old Great Falls woman is recovering after fighting off a fox that attacked her Tuesday afternoon on a neighborhood street, according to the Fairfax County police

The same animal also bit a house cat, the police said. Animal Protection Police (APP) officers captured and killed the animal, and the fox's carcass is being tested for rabies.

At about 3 p.m. Tuesday, the APP officers responded to a report of a fox that bit an unidentified woman multiple times as she was walking in the 600 block of Ad Hoc Road.

The fox approached the woman from behind and bit her in the lower body, the police said. She turned to fight the fox off and was bitten a few more times.

After successfully fighting off the fox, the woman fled to a nearby neighbor’s home and called police. She was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening-injuries, the police said.

About one hour later, APP officers received a call about a fox attacking a cat in the 400 block of Chesapeake Drive, about three miles from Ad Hoc Road.

The cat’s owner, a 54-year-old woman, kicked the fox away from her cat, and with her husband’s help, they trapped the fox and held it until APP officers arrived, the police said.

The cat owner was not harmed, according to police. The cat, a 9-year-old brown tabby, did not require medical attention but was quarantined.

The fox was collected, euthanized and taken to the Health Department for rabies testing. "APP officers believe the same fox was involved in both incidents," the police said.

Image: Fairfax County Police Department (this is not the fox that was caught and euthanized).