Raccoon Attacks Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Student

Miss-Delectable

Miss-Delectable

New Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
17,160
Reaction score
7
Raccoon Attacks Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Student | firstcoastnews.com

A nine-year-old student was bitten eight times by a raccoon at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.

Lt. Carlos Aviles with City of St. Augustine Fire Department said the girl, who is deaf, was on the playground when the animal attacked her. It happened just after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Rescuers rushed the girl to Flagler Hospital.

Lt. Aviles said she was in stable condition.

Animal Control officers are still trying to find the raccoon to determine whether it is rabid.
 
I was sent to Flagler hospital after an attack by a squirrel at FSDB in my Jr year.. WOW!! Hope the girl is O.K.

Funny thing is ..... the doctor asked me if I can identify the squirrel... I said ummmm yeah.. he had buck teeth and a mustache!! Really??


Racooons carry a lot of diseases and worms. Rabies is not the only thing they should worry about. Poor kid!!
 
She will likely undergo rabies shots just to be sure as a preventative measure. Sounds like you have some overly friendy animals as FSDB. Lol.
 
Dixie said:
She will likely undergo rabies shots just to be sure as a preventative measure. Sounds like you have some overly friendy animals as FSDB. Lol.
Click to expand...

We have lots of Oak trees on campus. I was jogging for volleyball practice on campus and crossed path with a squirrel. It grabbed and shredded my leg and lept off. We have tons of squirrels on campus.

I have seen raccoons on campus before during my high school years. They stay up in the trees.

I do not think the raccoon just ran and attacked the girl.. My suspicion is the girl thought it was a cute furry little friend and grabbed it. I could be wrong, but to be bitten that many times.......sounds like a frighten raccoon defending itself. It also very well may have been a rabid coon.

I would love to hear more about this story.
 
Last edited:
I have heard of rabid raccoons attacking, but never squirrels!! Did you get rabies shots, Babyblue?
 
Bottesini said:
I have heard of rabid raccoons attacking, but never squirrels!! Did you get rabies shots, Babyblue?
Click to expand...

No I did not since, the squirrel and I crossed path. I was jogging and the squirrel decided to leap at the same time. We collided. So they did not suspect it was a rabid squirrel case. Since the squirrel technically did not attack me. It just scrambled to get away from me. Scratching my leg up from thigh down.

Plus.... the doctor asked me if I could identify the squirrel and so did the animal control.. I am like WTF.... Really?? There are TONS of squirrels on campus.

Guess the squirrel was not rabid after all.. They did give me a shot that day.. I think it was an antibiotic shot. Not sure.
 
Poor kid! I hope she is okay. Those rabies shots...I don't even want to think about the poor kid having to go through that.

Off topic..raccoons are plentiful around here, and we have to take precautions to keep them out of the trash. The other day, my nephew and I were discussing the most dangerous jobs ratings, and trash collectors came up. My great niece asked why trash collecting was dangerous. My nephew said, "Well, let's think about it. What could cause danger for someone collecting trash?" Response from my niece: "Raccoons?":lol:
 
Raccoon bites 3rd-grader 8 times at school | News - Home

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -
A 9-year-old girl at Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine was bitten by a raccoon eight times on campus at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, according to school officials.


The raccoon has not yet been caught.

School officials said a group of students left a dance class and asked to stop by the playground, and somewhere between the playground and their dorm, they saw a wild raccoon.

The students were walking along a sidewalk when the unprovoked raccoon attacked the third-grader, who's deaf.

"What happened was that raccoon approached this student, this little girl and bit her eight times," school communications director Miki Gilloon said. "She had puncture wounds in her hand and also between her toes."

"She started running, and the raccoon chased her and started to bite her," school President Danny Hutto said.

Adults who were with the children began chasing the raccoon, but it got away, which is why the school now has traps set up all over campus being checked on the hour.

They caught one raccoon, but it wasn't the one that attacked the girl.

The girl was taken to Flagler Hospital and was later released that night. She was given rabies shots and is now under the care of the school's health care center.

The main concern now is to make sure she's OK and that this doesn't happen again, school officials said.

"She was in good spirits and she was doing well," Hutto said.

People should not touch or feed wild animals and should keep garbage and food tightly sealed or in Dumpsters, officials say. They say to stay away from any wild animal that's being aggressive.

If anyone sees a raccoon on the school's campus, they're asked to call the school's police department.
Click to expand...

Guess that answers my question. It was unprovoked. WOW!! That must have been scary for the girl and the students that witness it.
 
I guess raccoons are smart. chase lil kids. :lol: I hope the lil girl is doin' ok.
 
28 Injections for Raccoon Bite Victim in St. Augustine | Crime | St. Augustine News
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- The 9-year-old student bitten eight times by a raccoon is in good spirits and is ready to return to class, but needs 28 shots.

The girl is a student at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.

City of St. Augustine Fire Department Lt. Carlos Aviles said the girl, who is deaf, was leaving dance practice, escorted by FSDB staff members, when the animal attacked her just after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

She had bite marks on her hands and toes, and was taken to Flagler Hospital. She was released Tuesday night and will have ongoing treatment at the school's facility.

She is reportedly doing fine after the incident.

"She's a trooper," FSDB President L. Daniel Hutto said this morning.

The girl will undergo a routine series of 28 injections, because officials are working under the assumption that the raccoon was rabid.

She has already had the first of the injections.

School officials set up traps around the campus, and discovered one trapped raccoon this morning before classes began.

The school will check the traps every hour and keep them set up overnight.

State law requires the captured raccoons to be euthanized, according to St. Johns County Animal Control Director Paul Studivant, because relocating them increases the risk of spreading rabies.

Studivant also said the raccoons that are captured will not be tested, because one in three will test positive for rabies; raccoons are the top carriers in the state.

As for the individual raccoon that attacked the girl, Studivant said the likelihood of catching and identifying it is "slim to none," but its aggressive nature toward its victim "showed all signs" of it having rabies.
Click to expand...

28 shots! Oh wow....poor girl.
Another one that suprised me is that 1 out of 3 raccoons have rabies!!! :shock: Learn something new everyday.
 
Hmm, I wonder if the raccoon bit the little girl b/c of a food scent on her. I used to care for a raccoon when I was younger, and it did that when it thought there was something editable on me, which I figured out was the scent that attracted it's seemingly random chomping situations. I'm not sure if this was a defensive attack from the description given. But you never know what scares an animal though.

And believe me, raccoons can bite *hard* when their defending themselves! Mine bit right through leather gloves I was wearing when it had temporarily escaped and was scared by a neighbors dogs which had cornered her! I still have a 'dent scar' where I got bitten on my right thumb.
 
A few weeks ago, as I was leaving the group home house I work on Saturdays, there was this squirrel that kept approaching me and I found its behavior very unusual . Something told me that something wasnt right with it so I got a stick to use to weild it away from me as I got into my car. It worked but then as I drove away, I saw it attack another squirrel. Probably had rabies. Scary.
 
Bottesini said:
They need a class in wilderness survival skills at FSDB!
Click to expand...
Hello long time no see you anyway ahhh you right they should take class to warn the kids never touch with animals it was sad to see her got hurt by biting raccoon jeez hope she's alright my friend just told me last week on VP shocked :(
 
Babyblue said:
Plus.... the doctor asked me if I could identify the squirrel and so did the animal control.. I am like WTF.... Really?? There are TONS of squirrels on campus.
Click to expand...

Did the squirrel in question have any distinguishing marks or tattoos?
 
Back
Top