Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210273
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Paul Basham, 66, of Old Town Road said the incident occurred Sunday morning after a neighbor told him a fox had just tried to attack him in his truck.
Basham said he spotted the fox in a nearby field, fetched his a .22-caliber handgun and tried to shoot the animal, but the gun malfunctioned. The fox then turned on Basham.
"I kept snapping the gun and it just wouldn't go off," Basham said. "You'd have had to see it to believe how ferocious that fox was. I've lived here all my life and I ain't never seen nothing like it . . .. He was trying to tear me up something terrible."
He said he fought the fox off by beating it with the gun and kicking it in the head.
"I took my foot and kicked that fox three or four time and he just kept coming. He was determined."
Basham said he suffered no cuts, but he likely will undergo rabies shots.
After the attack, Basham called the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. He said he was told that because it was Sunday a dog warden would not be available to pick up the animal. They suggested he store the dead carcus in his refrigerator until Monday.
Montgomery County Dog Warden Roger Nester said there is always a dog warden on call and that there was apparently a mix-up at the sheriff's department.
Lowell Hartley, sanitarian manager for the New River Health District, said the fox was the second animal that has tested positive for rabies this month.
The other animal, a skunk, was killed by a dog in the Newport section of Giles County earlier this month. Hartley said both incidents indicate that rabies could be spreading among the wildlife population, but he said there is no reason to panic.
"My advice is to be cautious. If you see a wild animal acting strange or friendly or attacking you, steer clear of it," he said.
by CNB