A Connecticut second-grader is just one of the victims of a rare fox attack that took place Monday. Evan Witzke was playing on Broad Brook Elementary School's playground when the fox bit him.
EVAN WITZKE VIA WVIT: "I didn't see it come out of the woods. It just came, and it bit my ankle. And it tackled me."
REPORTER: "You can still see the marks on Evan's wrist and his bandaged left ankle."
WCBS-AM spoke with police Detective Matthew Carl, who explained what happened next.
"One of the teachers that was chaperoning grabbed the fox off the child. He was able to hold the fox down with the assistance of another school staff member."
WVIT reports the fox also bit the two staff members. And it's believed the same fox also attacked a woman and her dog earlier that day.
DANIELLE BOPKO VIA WTIC: "The second I opened the door, I felt something bite on my leg. ... It was just big and black. It latched on, and I kicked it into the wall. It was a fox."
According to WTIC, Danielle Bopko and her dog both received a series of rabies shots after the attack, just as Evan and the two school staff members did later that day.
Fox attacks are pretty rare. BBC spoke with a wildlife expert in 2010 who said: "Foxes are among the most amenable, least aggressive mammals you could share your environment with. It's very rare for a fox to be brave enough to face a cat."
In fact, The Humane Society of the United States says it's uncommon for a fox to catch rabies and the fox strain of rabies "has rarely if ever been transmitted to a human in this country."
WCBS-AM reports the fox was put down by police at the elementary school after it attempted to bite an officer. It's currently being tested for rabies.
