Early this morning, a fox bit a Charlottesville woman on her lower leg, making her the third person in two weeks to report being attacked or bitten by a potentially rabid fox.
According to city police, animal control responded to a report of a fox acting aggressively in the 1200 block of Monticello Road around 9:33am and, at that time, learned of the woman who was bitten in the 1100 block of Leonard Street earlier that morning. The officer captured the fox on Monticello and it was euthanized at the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA. Its remains have been sent to the Virginia Department of Health for testing.
Officers captured and put down a fox “acting suspiciously” on Watson Avenue March 14. Two days later, police said tests on the animal did not show any signs of rabies. Animal control officer Casey Breeden told C-VILLE she believed this to be a different fox than the first one that bit two people in north Downtown on March 8, evaded capture at Allied Concrete on Harris Street and reportedly crawled into a storm drain.
Small animals like foxes can only live with rabies for a matter of days, according to Breeden. She and other neighbors speculate that the first fox is already dead.
City spokesperson Miriam Dickler says if you see a fox in your neighborhood, do not approach the animal. “Don’t try to capture it yourself,” she says. “And don’t try to pet it.”
Stay inside or get inside if an animal is concerning you, she adds. Keep all garbage covered and don’t feed your pets outdoors or leave their food outside.
If a suspicious animal—like the group of potentially rabid foxes recently seen downtown—is in your line of sight, Dickler says to call 911. If you are reporting a previous fox sighting, call animal control at 434-970-3280.
“Leave it to the professionals,” Dickler says.
Bonus fox fact: A group of foxes is called a skulk or a leash.