Scouts Kill Rabid Beaver With Rocks After Attack
DELAWARE WATER GAP, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Officials say a man swimming at an eastern Pennsylvania park was bitten by a beaver that later tested positive for rabies.
According to Poughkeepsie Journal, Boy Scout Troop 32 from Elizaville, New York was on a field trip at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on August 2nd.
During the trip, 51-year-old Normand Brousseau, an assistant scoutmaster, and others went for a swim in the Delaware River.
While swimming with a noodle float, Brousseau was attacked by a beaver.
Superintendent John Donahue said Brouseau was swimming in just south of the park's Eshback Access near Bushkill at the time. He said the animal was later tested for rabies and the test came back positive.
Donahue said he did not know whether other park animals had rabies, which is transmitted by the bites of infected animals.
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that after Brousseau was bit in the leg, buttocks, arm, hand and waist he threw the beaver on shore and then the scouts began throwing rocks at it until the animal died.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area says anyone who sees sick or dead wildlife there is being warned not to approach or touch the animals, but to call the park's emergency center.
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