SELINSGROVE, Pa. — A cornfield near Selinsgrove is where a woman says she was attacked by a potentially rabid fox.
The woman, who did not want to appear on camera, told Newswatch 16 she was in her backyard with her dogs in Penn Township Wednesday night when she saw the animal.
She says she tried to get her pets and herself inside the house when the fox ran in front of her. Shen then lost her footing in a small ditch in her yard and fell. That's when state police say the fox began biting her.
The victim called out for help and her boyfriend came running. He tried to fight off the animal but was also bit. The fox eventually ran off.
"When I came home yesterday afternoon I noticed that there was police officers and the game warden looking, and I had no idea that it was a rabid fox so my neighbor across the way sent us a text so that's how I found out about the fox," siad Mike Jason of Penn Township.
State Police in Selinsgrove say they were able to capture the fox, but neighbors like Cindy Smith are still unsettled by the attack. Smith says she saw the animal run under her deck when she was letting her dog out.
"I stopped, and it just looked at me, and then it just proceeded to come around the front, and went across to the neighbors into their driveway, walked around a little bit, walked around to the side of their house, and then went behind the house, and then I called the state police, they came and asked which direction it went."
Smith tells Newswatch 16 she had her granddaughter over on Wednesday night and was worried about her being outside.
"I had her, and everybody was telling me there were a couple of people that had been attacked, and then getting her inside, and then my daughter-in-law was coming this morning, and I told her just be careful of your surroundings when you come in because apparently there's a fox running around and it's already attacked a couple of people."
Residents say this is the first time there's been a fox attack in the neighborhood.
"Really I wasn't shocked I was just concerned for the neighbors and of course my little puppies that I have," said Jason.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission will be testing the animal for rabies.