A rabid fox, hiding in a mobile-home park near Lakeland, Fla., attacked a 3-year-old girl who must now undergo a series of shots to fight off the infection.
Savannah Baars, 3, had just returned from the store with her mother and was playing in the yard while her mother unloaded the groceries, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Without warning, an adult fox, about 2 feet long, jumped out of trees behind the house and went after the child. Her father kicked the fox away, but the animal charged again. He grabbed a car battery from the vehicle he was repairing, and hit the fox over the head.
"My brother-in-law was behind me, and he finished it off with a cinder block," Jeff Baars said.
The girl suffered scratches on her arms and legs and was treated at a local hospital. Later tests showed the fox had rabies, which means the girl must undergo a painful series of shots to prevent her from getting the disease.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
