Fox bites man at NC home, sending him to hospital. ‘Could have been my grandkids’
A man was bitten by a fox outside his family’s home in North Carolina, police said.
Darrin Watson was working on his mom’s car at his sister’s house on the afternoon of April 5 when a fox rushed out from under that car and came after him, he told WGHP.
Watson received a minor bite from the fox, according to an incident report by the High Point Police Department.
His sister’s neighbor, Chuck Alston, was outside and noticed the commotion, the outlet reported.
“I yelled at the fox to kind of just get away from him pretty much,” Alston told WGHP. “By then, it had already bitten him, and the fox kind of ran off and just went across the street and laid down.”
Officers were able to capture the fox, but it died shortly after being placed inside the animal control truck, according to the police report.
“Upon examination, I observed what appeared to be several bite wounds on the left front leg and chin of the fox,” one of the police officers wrote.
Watson was transported to Moses Cone Hospital by emergency medical personnel for treatment of the fox bite on his right leg, according to police.
Watson’s mother, Anita McCallum, told WGHP she was glad it wasn’t any worse for her son.
“I was just so scared for his life because it could have been my grandkids outside or anybody outside,” McCallum told WGHP.
The fox’s body was transported to the Guilford County Animal Shelter and will be sent off for rabies testing, the police report said.
Officers identified the animal as a gray fox, which are common in neighborhoods partially due to changes in habitat, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
The gray fox weighs between 7 to 15 pounds and is often confused with the red fox due to the reddish hue some foxes have, according to the commission.
High Point police have received seven calls about incidents with foxes since January 2018, Community Division Cmdr. Capt. Patrick O’Toole told McClatchy News.
“This person was near one of those areas that was a little more covered in woods and had some terrain more accommodating to a fox,” O’Toole said.
There are several steps residents can take to avoid conflict with foxes, according to the NCWRC, including:
- Don’t try to approach or pet a fox
- Don’t feed foxes, wild animals, or feral cats
- Secure garbage
- Feed pets indoors
- Close off crawl spaces under sheds, porches, and homes
- Secure pets or keep them indoors
- Install fox-proof fencing
- Yell, bang pots and pans
If people encounter a fox and notice that it is showing signs of rabies, like aggression, stumbling or foaming at the mouth, they should contact their local animal control, the commission said.
For more information on foxes in North Carolina, visit the commission’s resource page.
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Fox bites man at NC home, sending him to hospital. ‘Could have been my grandkids’."
