Rabid river otter attacked man who was feeding ducks and then a 70-pound dog
A Jupiter man was out by a pond feeding ducks on Wednesday morning last week, something he typically does. But as he turned his back to the water to walk to his home, he heard something startle the ducks.
A 3-year-old river otter that was infected with rabies had emerged from the water onto the bank.
“He began to back up slowly still facing the otter,” a case report from Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control said. “That is when the otter went and attacked him for several minutes.”
After attacking the man, the rabid otter attacked a pet dog before it was trapped in someone’s driveway in the 100 block of Florida Avenue, across the pond from where the man was attacked.
The man was treated at Jupiter Medical Center for bites to his arms and legs. At the time of the report, the dog’s owner took the animal to a veterinarian, leaving animal control officials without any information about the attack.
David Walesky, assistant director of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, said Tuesday evening that the 12-year-old male dog weighed about 70 pounds and was attacked while being walked by the owner.
The dog was vaccinated and had one bite on its nose, Walesky said. Officials recommended a booster vaccine and that the owner quarantine the dog at home for 45 days.
When an animal control officer arrived at the home on Florida Avenue, a Jupiter Police Department officer was watching over a rattling recycling bin containing the trapped otter, held down by two cinder blocks on top, the report said. The animal control officer captured the otter with a net and put it in a carrier.
“The animal was showing signs that were abnormal,” the report said. “The animal was hyperactive and then down. In the transfer carrier, it bared teeth and was biting the metal.”
Walesky said the otter was euthanized and its brain was sent for testing. The results came back Saturday, confirming it was infected with rabies, he said. The Palm Beach County Department of Health issued a statement Monday confirming the testing results and warned residents in the area to avoid contact with any wild animals, including stray cats.
“For Palm Beach County, we have not seen a confirmed positive rabies in an otter since 2010,” Walesky said. “We’ve seen it in other animals, but we’re in a low period right now to where actually our most recent rabies case besides this one was almost two years ago.”
River otters are found throughout the state, except for the Keys, and the largely nocturnal animals prefer freshwater areas, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They live in burrows on the water banks.
The predominant sources of rabies from wildlife in Florida are raccoons and bats, according to the Florida Department of Health, with outdoor cats the most common domestic animal found with the viral disease. The disease is spread through an infected animal’s bite and is deadly to humans and other mammals.
“Animals with rabies may show strange behavior — they can be aggressive, attacking for no apparent reason, or act very tame (especially wild animals),” the health department says in its informational page on the disease.
Palm Beach County Health Department officials offered the following advice in their statement Monday:
Keep rabies vaccinations updated for all pets.
Supervise pets so they don’t make contact with wildlife.
Seek medical and veterinarian care immediately if bitten by wildlife.
Do not handle or feed wild animals or attract them with unsecured garbage cans.
Never adopt or bring wild animals into your home.
Teach children not to handle wild or unfamiliar domestic animals.
Prevent bats from getting inside.
