TOPSHAM, Maine — A fox that charged a woman as she gardened at her home Sunday morning was rabid, Topsham police said Monday afternoon.
The attack was the fourth in Topsham in the last two weeks, according to a release from Topsham Police Chief Marc Hagan.
At about 8:15 a.m. Sunday, a fox attacked a 37-year-old Mallett Drive woman gardening in her yard. Topsham police officers killed the animal. Neither the woman nor the officers were bitten. The animal's remains were sent to the state laboratory in Augusta for testing.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention informed the police Monday afternoon that the fox was rabid, Hagan said.
The incident marks the fourth fox attack in Topsham in the last two weeks.
On March 22, a person at the Topsham Fairgrounds reported being attacked by a fox, which was located and killed by police. That fox was not tested for rabies because the person was not injured, Hagan said.
Dogs in the Winter Street and Summer Street areas were bitten later the same week, but that fox was not found.
Police ask residents to call the Topsham Police Department at 725-4337 if they or their pets are in contact with a wild animal acting strangely and to be sure their animals' rabies vaccinations are current.
