VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) —A 5-year-old Valdosta girl is recovering after a fox attacked her on the front porch of her home off Mount Zion Church Road near Dewar Elementary School on Sunday, June 28. The fox later tested positive for rabies, according to the girl’s family.

Watch the video below:

Oaklyn Bishop, one of a set of triplets, was on the front porch with her mother’s partner, Brandi Parsons, when the animal approached and latched onto her leg.

Neighbor attacked first

The Bishop family said a fox had attacked a neighbor just 20 minutes before turning on Oaklyn. That neighbor, a firefighter who was heading into work, was wearing his work boots and was able to stomp the fox off before it ran toward the Bishops’ home.

“Thank God he had his work boots on,” Oaklyn’s mother, Heather Bishop, said. “And he was going into work because he’s a firefighter. And he was able to stomp it off of him. But then it came right over to us and attacked her.”

Watch the video below:

Attack on Oaklyn

Parsons initially thought the animal was a cat before realizing what it was.

“My partner thought it was a cat, because we have a lot of cats in the neighborhood. And it was not a cat. So when she realized what it was, she jumped up, threw the phone at it, started hitting it with a toy,” Heather Bishop said.

Heather Bishop said she heard the commotion and rushed outside, grabbing the fox and throwing it off her daughter. The family then attempted to leave for the hospital, but the fox had positioned itself behind their van.

“When we come back outside to get her to the hospital, it is behind my van to where we can’t move the van. So I got to walk back to the porch, and it starts chasing me, the baby, my partner, our 18-year-old daughter, my mom and my sister back inside trying to get us again,” Bishop said.

Heather Bishop’s father eventually arrived and shot the fox in the leg. A passing truck then struck the animal, allowing officials to collect it for testing.

Rabies confirmed in Lowndes County

Heather Bishop said the family was informed Tuesday afternoon that the fox tested positive for rabies. South Health District spokesperson Kristen Patten did not confirm it was the same fox, but said there was a positive rabies case in Lowndes County over the weekend.

Oaklyn is home recovering and is receiving rabies post-exposure treatment.

Emotional toll on child

Bishop said Oaklyn no longer wants to go outside and does not want to be left alone in a room.

“She’ll say, ‘I’m scared something’s going to get me,’” Bishop said. “And she’ll point out the window.”

Family urges awareness

Bishop said the family debated whether to post video of the attack online before deciding it was necessary to raise awareness.

“It is the scariest thing any parent could ever experience, seeing how helpless your child is. And I don’t even remember coming outside. I don’t remember grabbing the fox. I don’t remember throwing it. I don’t remember any of that until I went back and looked at the video to see, okay, how did we get it off of her? You don’t know what you will do until you are in that moment,” Bishop said.

The family is asking the community to continue praying for Oaklyn as she recovers. Health officials say anyone who sees a wild animal behaving aggressively or erratically should not approach it and should contact local animal control immediately. Anyone bitten should seek medical attention right away, as post-exposure rabies treatment is most effective when started quickly.

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