Mother fends off raccoon from daughter

ASHFORD, CT (WFSB) - An animal control officer reported that a child was bitten by a raccoon in Ashford.

“It was wrapping its arms around my leg,” she explained. “It really hurt.”

State police said they responded to the incident on Fitts Road to assist the officer.

Video of the incident was captured by a surveillance camera:

It happened around 7:55 a.m. on Friday.

“I was going out to get on the bus and a racoon was there and tried to attack me,” said 5-year-old Rylee MacNamara of Ashford. “It didn’t want to go off of my leg.”

Rylee MacNamara said she and her mother suffered some bite marks and scratches before her mother was able to yank the animal off her.

Panicking, Logan, Rylees mother, screams for help.

“It’s a rabid racoon, get some help!,” said Logan.

The raccoon ran off into the woods after she threw it off.

There’s no word yet on if the animal was rabid.

“I thought maybe she slammed her finger in the door. I definitely wasn’t expecting to see a racoon wrapped around her leg,” Logan said.

The two went to the hospital, received rabies shots, and were back home in a couple of hours.

“We just kind of panicked at first. I was more scared than anything,” said Logan.

Neighbor, Jessica Gessay, isn’t surprised this happened.

“These woods around here... I fear them. There’s things out here. Animals, wild animals things like that,” said Jessica.

“It’s disturbing that it would be that close to our houses,” added Dave Frank, Ashford.

Animal control spent Friday morning in the woods to try and track down the animal. However, it was nowhere to be found.

The Macnamara’s might take it into their own hands by setting traps around the house.

Rylee and Logan will head back to the hospital every couple of days for the next two weeks to get more shots.

They Macnamara’s also say their kids won’t be allowed outside alone in the near future.

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