A 51-year-old Oregon man captured a rabid fox after the animal’s teeth became snarled in the man’s sock, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
A second person was also attacked just an hour earlier, probably by the same fox, YCSO reported.
Christopher Sabo, of Bend, Ore., reported he was bitten by the fox shortly before 6 p.m. while hiking in Boynton Canyon northwest of Sedona on April 16.
Sabo said he and his wife were hiking the canyon when the fox, in an unprovoked attack, bit him on the leg.
A 51-year-old Oregon man captured a rabid fox after the animal’s teeth became snarled in the man’s sock, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
A second person was also attacked just an hour earlier, probably by the same fox, YCSO reported.
Christopher Sabo, of Bend, Ore., reported he was bitten by the fox shortly before 6 p.m. while hiking in Boynton Canyon northwest of Sedona on April 16.
Sabo said he and his wife were hiking the canyon when the fox, in an unprovoked attack, bit him on the leg.
The teeth of the fox became stuck in Sabo’s sock, but he was able get the fox loose with a stick, YCSO reported.
The fox attacked again, but this time, Sabo was able to step across the neck of the animal, hold it down and tie its legs together with a rope.
Sabo then tied the animal to a nearby tree while his wife reported the incident to YCSO.
Sabo told deputies he felt like he was in an “Indiana Jones” movie, YCSO reported.
A YCSO animal control officer was dispatched to the area. By the time he arrived at the bite scene, the fox had died.
The officer took custody of the animal, which was sent to a lab in Phoenix to confirm a rabies infection.
Sabo was treated and vaccinated for the injury at the Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood.
While at VVMC, the YCSO animal control officer was advised that the Sedona Medical Center was already treating a patient who had been bitten three times by a fox in Boynton Canyon in the previous hour.
The patient, identified as Julian Brown, of Massachusetts, had been hiking in the area when a fox attacked. The officer determined the area where Brown was bitten was less than 40 yards from the attack on Sabo.
Although not confirmed, it is likely that the same fox bit both parties, according to YCSO.
YCSO reported the fox was probably infected with “aggressive” rabies, which would explain the unprovoked attacks.
YCSO urges hikers to carry walking sticks or similar objects to protect themselves from rabid animals.
There have been 38 confirmed cases of rabies in Arizona since Jan. 1. The only case in Yavapai County involved a mountain lion.
Of the 38 confirmed cases, state health officials reported 16 humans and 46 domestic animals, including pets, were exposed to rabies since Jan. 1.
The last case of a rabid wild animal near Sedona was reported July 25, when a diseased bobcat forced its way into a West Sedona home.
The bobcat aggressively approached several residents in the Kachina area, but did not attack, before it barged into the terrified homeowner’s residence.
Animal control officers captured and killed the animal.
Last year, several rabid animals, including bats and foxes, were found dead in neighborhoods around Soldier Pass Trail, Dry Creek Road, in Oak Creek Canyon and also in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area, according to the Sedona Police Department.
SPD advises residents to keep pets on a leash at all times and to stay away from wild or unfamiliar animals.
Rabies is 100 percent fatal if left untreated, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The survival rate is good if the bite is treated immediately, SPD reported.
In the past, rabies vaccination was extremely painful, requiring a series of injections in the stomach. These days, the treatment is more like getting a flu shot, SPD reported.
According to ADHS, rabies can be acquired in only a few ways: exposure to the brain matter or spinal fluid of an infected animal or from a bite or scratch that causes exposure to the infected animal’s saliva.
Bats are a major concern when it comes to rabies and humans because bat teeth are small and bites have been known to go undetected, according to SPD.
— Greg Ruland
Larson Newspapers
