Rabid? Aggressive fox spotted near UVA
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Update 8/27 8:50am: On Wednesday, August 26, the UVA-area fox bit a passerby and, according to city spokesperson Ric Barrick, it may have also bitten one of the first two residents who encountered the animal. Barrick says both injured residents are being treated for rabies, a treatment that involves a series of painful injections, and that UVA has hired an outside firm to capture the fox, who will be euthanized and tested for rabies.
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Charlottesville police and an outside firm hired by UVA are hunting a fox in the UVA/Rugby Road area after it behaved aggressively on two separate occasions in the past 24 hours, causing one area resident to fall and injure herself while fleeing the animal. No one has been bitten, says Barrick. A press release from the city says humane traps have been set for the animal so that “routine tests” can be performed.
Although the release makes no mention of rabies, that is one common reason for wild animals to behave aggressively and abnormally. According to numerous scientific sources, however, the only way to diagnose an animal with rabies is a post-mortem brain biopsy. If you see the animal, do not approach it, say police. Instead, call 911 with an exact location. If the animal does attack, it will be even more critical to determine quickly whether it is rabid– as this savvy woman realized when she was attacked by a fox in Arizona last year. Rabies is 100 percent fatal in humans and animals if not treated promptly with a series of vaccinations.
quote: “….No one has been bitten….”
This changed this afternoon.
A person has been bitten.
IMHO, humane treatment is out the window now. Foxy needs to shot and evaluated for rabies. :)
IMHO, Gasbag needs to be shot and evaluated for rabies.
Of course there is a rabid fox on campus…the chicks are back at UVa!
Rugby Fox, I challenge you to a paintball match. We’ll see who gets shot first.
Never been to a Game, they sure are! I tried to keep notes one year, I was gonna record the day I saw my first ugly UVA chick. I have no notes at all.
tell that animal to go back to foxfield!
And he stole someone’s sweater!! Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping, . . .
That fox may want to get tested for herpes, genital warts and trych after biting a UVA student.
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i think that fox is getting a bad rap, it is really a cyote that did it, and what’s up with all those miniture goats chasing wahoos up emmet street
don’t know if wahoos are allowed to have pets while living on campuse, but the ones living off campuse could consider getting a pet rooster, they offer great protection from alot of that wild-life around uva , myself when visiting uva i watch out for the wild boars i have been charged by them twice and last time it almost got my leg. while going north on 20 i saw a fox with a burger in it mouth coming out of wendy’s