I guess we all dream of having "a fox" in the tub...but...well...not this kind of fox! 
Amador County, CA
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Fox attacks Pine Grove man in hot tub[/size]
Thursday, June 19, 2008
By Bethany A. Monk
Foxes, like this one in the care of Tri-County Wildlife, are normally shy creatures that
help keep down rodent populations and don't normally carry rabies.
Eldon Batzold of Pine Grove was doing his normal early morning routine last week -
a nice soak in the hot tub with a good book at 6 a.m. - when
a grey fox
jumped in and attacked him.
"So, I'm reading a book, and
only half of the hot tub lid is unfolded," he told
the Ledger Dispatch Thursday afternoon, the same day the incident occurred.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I see kind of a grey color," he said. "I have a
couple of cats. They get up on the tub, so I didn't think much."
Next thing he knew,
he turned around and saw a fox in the hot tub with him.
"I reached out with my hand to keep it away from me and it latched onto my wrist."
Batzold said he was surprised the fox "didn't just go away." He
had to put up a fightto get his hand free, and finally, "it just kind of walked away. It strolled off like it was a
normally strolling fox."
After getting attacked, Batzold grabbed a garden hoe and went looking for the fox, which
he never found.
Batzold and his wife, Roberta Slovick, then
went to the hospital where he got his
wound cleaned and stitched up. Dr. Bob Hartmann from the Amador County Department
of Public Health talked to Batzold about rabies and the possibility that he was attacked by
a
rabid fox. "'If you get it, you die,'" he remembered Hartmann saying of rabies.
Hartmann talked to him about rabies vaccinations and their success rate. To be safe,
Batzold decided to get the vaccinations. And after getting five shots, he and his wife went home.
The fox that attacked Batzold may have been rabid, said public health Director Angel LeSage,
who described the animal's behavior as unusual.
"We haven't had any rabid foxes reported in 11 years," LeSage added. "That doesn't mean
there isn't some rabies in that population. But there are other diseases that make animals wacko."
"We have noticed that foxes are around all the time" in their neighborhood, about 3 miles off
Highway 88, Batzold said. "But they aren't intimidated by humans at all. They'll look up and
see you and just continue on. They don't get defensible or aggressive."
"For that to happen is incredibly unique," LeSage said. "Humans and foxes tend not to cross,"
she added, calling foxes "reclusive."
In April, there were three reported rabid skunks in the county, she said, which was a high number.
There have not been any other reports of rabid skunks in Amador County since then.
Rabies is a virus that is spread through the saliva of a rabid animal, according to a "Preventing Rabies"
pamphlet produced by Chiron. The virus may also get into the body via open cuts or wounds, or through
the eyes, nose or mouth. Animals that may carry the virus include raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes,
woodchucks and bats. Domestic animals like dogs, cats, ferrets and farm animals can get rabies from
wild animals that carry the virus. Pets should be vaccinated regularly by a veterinarian to prevent rabies.
"It's extremely unusual behavior for a fox," said Susan Manning, director of Tri-County Wildlife care.
"They're usually most active in the evening," she said of foxes, calling them "shy" animals. They're
only 12 to 15 pounds and are great to have around ranches and barns, she said, because they "keep
down the small rodents."
It isn't that common for foxes to carry rabies, Manning said, when asked if she though the fox that
attacked Batzold may have been rabid. "But as a meat eater, it's a possibility."
