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Violent Raccoon On The Loose In Burlington

A raccoon repeatedly attacked a Burlington woman this weekend until she was able to fight it off, WCAX reports. According to the report, Charlene Wallace was unloading her car when the animal struck.

"I went out in my driveway to put my snow tires away and I opened the back door of my car to roll them out of the back seat, and suddenly an animal was biting my hand," she said. Wallace says it all happened so fast she barely had time to react to the raccoon latched onto her hand. "I kind of tried to shake it off, and within a few seconds I think it did come off, and so I turned to run to the back door -- which is only 10 or 12 feet away -- and it jumped up and bit me on the back of my leg and knocked me over," she said.

Wallace fought the animal off, but a trip to the emergency room led to 14 stitches and a rabies vaccine. The animal was never caught. The attack comes about two weeks after authorities warned of four raccoons in the Burlington area testing positive for rabies.

The WCAX report quotes Burlington Police Officer Joseph Corrow relaying some safety tips for anyone who spots wild animals.

"So some symptoms for rabies would be loss of hair; if the animal appears that it can't walk correctly; if it almost appears drunk; if it seems to stagger a lot; if its got what looks like foam coming out of its mouth -- but really it's just saliva that they are unable to swallow." he said.

Officials advise people never to approach wild animals. The Vermont Department of Health operates a rabies hotline which can be reached at 1-800-472-2437 (1-800-4-RABIES).

Taylor was VPR's digital reporter from 2013 until 2017. After growing up in Vermont, he graduated with at BA in Journalism from Northeastern University in 2013.
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