Photo: WPTV News // YouTube
Angry otters has been in the news lately, with Otter 841’s rebellion against the Santa Cruz surfing population making international headlines. However, a more serious case of aquatic mammal aggression went down in Jupiter, Florida last week, when a rabid otter bit a man and dog.
As WPTV reports, Joseph Scaglione, 74, had just finished feeding corn to ducks at a nearby pond and was walking back toward his property when suddenly all the birds flew away. “Looked up, no hawk, look back down, and there was a brown head sticking up over the bank of the pond. And at first, I didn’t know it was an otter, but then I realized that’s an otter,” Scaglione told WPBF.
“I backed up along the fence but when I started to close the gate, it charged, immediately attacking my legs,” Scaglione said. “I started to push it away, and it started to bite my hands,” he went on. “One of the bites I have is on my pinkie and it ripped the nail off the pinkie. [It] looks like the tooth went completely through my finger.”
Scaglione eventually managed to toss the otter away and get to safety. However, the animal’s rabid rampage did not end there. Later that day, it encountered a couple and attacked their dog, according to Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control .
Animal control was called at 11:18 a.m., after police said the otter was trapped under a recycling bin in a driveway. The officer arrived at the scene and let the animal loose and was then able to capture it with a net, later transferring it to a carrier. A report from Florida Health stated that the otter was sent in for a rabies test, which came back positive.
Scaglione stated that he is receiving treatment for rabies exposure and is going to a hand surgeon to see if he suffered any permanent damage.
