A Florida man is recovering after a rabid otter attacked him while he was trying to feed some pond ducks.
WPBF 25 News is reporting that Joseph Scaglione, a retiree who lives in Jupiter, FL — about 30 minutes north of West Palm Beach — had a daily ritual of feeding the ducks that swim in a pond near his home in the afternoon.
And he thought that he’d be able to do the same thing on Tuesday (September 26).
Unfortunately for him, a rabid otter had other plans.
Scaglione said that the rabid otter “came out of nowhere” and began biting him incessantly, ultimately breaking his skin more than three dozen times.
“My pinky is the worst. I have two puncture wounds. I’m not sure if it goes right through or whatever. One is on the corner of where the cuticle was,” he said to the outlet.
Scaglione eventually shook the critter off, but it wasn’t done with its campaign of terror.
The otter then took off after a couple who was walking their dog in the neighborhood, eventually biting the poor pet, before neighbors came to the rescue.
After the otter was trapped, the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control was called, where tests revealed it had tested positive for rabies.
Because of this, the otter was euthanized.
While the extent of the pup’s injuries were unclear, both the pooch and Mr. Scaglione were tested for rabies — and, fortunately, came up negative.
The otter attack is the first of its kind in more than ten years in the area.
