Two Newton County kindergartners were bitten Wednesday by a fox, authorities said.
The 6-year-old boys were playing on the Rocky Plains Elementary School playground about 11 a.m. when the fox emerged from a wooded area adjacent to the school, said Cortney Morris, a spokeswoman for the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.
“The fox came out of the woods and bit the two children,” then ran back into the woods, Morris said.
Newton County schools officials said the attack seemed unprovoked.
“The fox charged one of the little boys,” schools spokeswoman Sherri Davis-Viniard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Davis-Viniard said an adult “was able to kick the fox to get it away from the student.”
“Then the fox turned around and went after another child,” she said.
Davis-Viniard said the adult kicked at the animal again to make it run away.
Both boys were treated at a nearby hospital for possible rabies infections, Newton County Animal Control spokeswoman Teri Key-Hooson said. One of the boys was bitten on the leg, and the other had minor puncture marks and abrasions, she said.
School officials alerted the parents of the roughly 50 children who were on the playground, and they called sheriff’s deputies and Newton County Animal Control.
This is the season for heightened fox activity because the animals are having their cubs, Key-Hooson said.
“We see domestic animals act aggressive to protect babies,” she said. “There’s no reason to believe a fox wouldn’t act the same way.”
Animal Control officers set traps, but Key-Hooson said “I don’t know if we’ll catch the same fox that bit the children.”
About the Author
