Rabid fox wouldn’t stop attacking woman — so she bit it back, Virginia cops say
Shirley Phillips was in her driveway in Virginia cleaning her car when she felt something “fuzzy” brush against her leg.
She told police she thought it was her neighbor’s cat that has been known to lie under her vehicle.
Then she felt teeth sink into her heel.
“I looked back, and I was like, ‘That ain’t no cat!” Phillips told WSET.
At her feet was a gray fox, biting, scratching and attacking her.
Phillips tried to fight off the fox with her hands, but the animal bit at her fingers and hands, according to a July 9 police report from the Bedford Police Department.
“He was holding on to my finger, and I was going around like this, trying to swing him off, but he wouldn’t let go,” Phillips told WSET.
Seeing no other options, Phillips met teeth with teeth, and bit the fox back, police said.
“I reached and grabbed him like (you would) grab a cat behind his neck, and I bit him on the ear,” she told the outlet.
Phillips was able to get the fox into her vehicle and lock the doors while a neighbor who heard her screams called 911.
When officers arrived, they found the fox in the vehicle, according to body camera footage. The fox paced around the front seats before trying to attack the door handle.
Eventually, the fox settled on the seat, lying down, before it was wrangled by an officer with a catch pole, police said.
The fox was safely shot and bagged so it could be tested for rabies, police said.
Phillips was taken to a hospital by her son and she received 11 stitches for her injuries, as well as the countless other scratches and nicks.
On July 12, the Virginia Department of Health informed Phillips that the fox had tested positive for rabies, WSET reported.
Treatment for rabies includes a four-dose vaccine given over two weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and can cost up to $6,500.
Bedford is about 140 miles west of Richmond.
This story was originally published July 13, 2023 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Rabid fox wouldn’t stop attacking woman — so she bit it back, Virginia cops say."
