Rabid beaver — 'biggest' that game warden has 'ever seen' — attacks, bites little girl swimming in lake

A rabid beaver — which a game warden called the "biggest" he's "ever seen" — attacked and bit a little girl who was swimming in Georgia lake over the weekend.

What are the details?

Kevin Beucker — field supervisor for Hall County Animal Control — told WDUN-AM that the beaver bit the girl Saturday while she was swimming off private property in the northern end of Lake Lanier near Gainesville, the Associated Press reported. Gainesville is about an hour and a half northeast of Atlanta.

The beaver's bite was on the girl's leg, WSB-TV said in an initial story, citing WDUN.

The girl’s father intervened and beat the beaver to death, Hall County Animal Control told WSB.

Don McGowan — supervisor for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division — said a game warden who responded to the incident described the animal as the "biggest beaver" he's "ever seen," the AP said, citing a follow-up WSB story.

"He estimated it at 50 or 55 pounds, which is about as big as they get in Georgia,” McGowan added to WSB.

The beaver later tested positive for rabies, the station said.

“Once that rabies virus gets into the brain of the animal — in this case, a beaver — they just act crazy,” McGowan also told WSB.

Medical experts say if a person is bitten or scratched by an animal suspected of having rabies, they get shots that stop the virus, the station noted, adding that without the shots, it is almost always fatal.

More from the AP:

Hall County officials have put up signs warning people of rabies. They're asking nearby residents to watch for animals acting abnormally and urging them to vaccinate pets against the viral disease.

People attacked by a rabid animal typically undergo a series of injections to prevent the disease from killing them.

State wildlife biologists said beaver attacks are rare. They said the last one they remember in Lake Lanier was 13 years ago.

Girl recovering after rabid beaver attack at Lake Lanieryoutu.be

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