A woman from Maine was attacked by a rabid raccoon while jogging
(Mirror Daily, United States) – A woman from Maine went for a jog in the woods near her home, when she was suddenly attacked by a rabid raccoon. After the animal bit on her thumb, she managed to drown it in a puddle nearby. The attack came unexpectedly and took the victim by surprise, but she was able to think quickly and escape.
The girl encountered the raccoon while jogging near the forest
On June 3rd, Rachel Borch, aged 21, was getting ready to go for a run on a fire road near her home, when her brother warned her to be careful, as he saw a raccoon roaming around. Both of them found it quite odd, since it was daytime, and raccoons are nocturnal animals.
Later, while Borch was running, she suddenly stumbled upon the so-called raccoon, which was hiding under an underbrush and kept baring its teeth at the woman in a ferocious manner. She found this behavior peculiar, so she immediately knew she had to be careful with the bites.
She managed to escape after she drowned the animal
First, she started dancing and making sudden moves around the rabid animal, while thinking what she can do to escape. She realized the raccoon was going to bite her and, since she had nothing protect herself with, she thought it had better bite her hands rather than any other body part.
The animal flung at her thumb, bit it and, then, she noticed a swampy puddle nearby. With all her strength, she pushed the head of the raccoon into the water, and managed to drown it. After it stopped clenching its jaws over Borch’s thumb, she knew it was safe to let go.
On June 5th, the Maine CDC confirmed that the raccoon was suffering from rabies. The disease is quite common in most US regions and, if one infected animal is spotted, most surely there are other creatures in the area infected as well. They don’t always look aggressive, but they can also be dizzy or delirious.
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