GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A North Carolina woman had a scary encounter with a rabid fox in her own home Sunday night.
Julie Loflin said she was in her bed when she saw the fox come through her dog’s doggie door on the patio.
She recalled seeing the ears of the fox glide across her room before she came face-to-face with the animal when it jumped on her bed.
“I was praying that I would live,” Loflin recalled, from the moment the fox jumped on her bed.
It grabbed her by the foot and would not let go until she pried it off of her.
She then held it by its neck for more than 12 minutes waiting for police and paramedics to arrive.
“I don’t know what else you could do. Maybe throw a pillow at it, or a blanket at it, or something like that,” she said.
On Wednesday, animal control confirmed that the fox had tested positive for rabies.
Loflin has endured several shots, including a rabies vaccine. She is still in a lot of pain, but is thankful her dog Duchess, and other neighborhood pets, were not hurt.
“I left that door open to the house so she could get in. I don’t anymore,” she said.
Neighbors in the Pineburr Court area told WGHP that they have seen more foxes coming closer to people’s property.
Animal control leaders explained that could be the case for a lot of neighborhoods.
The warm weather could be causing more foxes to move around from their natural habits; January through March is typically mating season, so more baby foxes could be walking into neighborhoods; or, foxes are moving around to find food.
Guilford County Animal Control says this is the eighth case of rabies in 2020.
