5/3/2009 3:07:00 PM
Fox attacks two hikers
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PRESCOTT - Craig Leicht and Paul Janowski were enjoying their regular stroll along the three-mile loop of Prescott National Forest Trails 347 and 341 when a fox took a deadly interest in them.
At 6:45 p.m. Thursday, the Prescott neighbors were ending an otherwise routine hike on a trail near Granite Mountain, a mile west of Prescott's municipal boundary and little more than a mile away from their homes, when the male animal attacked them.
Thanks to a quick response, Leicht, who moved here from Texas in February, and Janowski fended off and killed what they think was a rabid fox close to the trails' far junction toward the bottom of a ravine. Neither of the men suffered bites or injuries.
"The fox appeared dazed, although he didn't have any froth in his mouth," said Janowski, 70, on Friday. "It was really weird, in a way."
An Arizona Game and Fish Department official hauled away the fox's body Friday morning and its frozen head will go to a state medical lab for testing Monday in Phoenix to determine whether it had rabies.
"The popular belief is that rabies tends to be cyclical in nature, and it's just running its course throughout that area," Game and Fish public information officer Zen Mocarski said. "Your odds of a wild animal encounter for the number of people that are outside still remains very low."
Thursday's incident was only one in a series of human vs. wild animal clashes during the past several months in Yavapai County, including the tri-city area.
"I looked ahead and saw something crouching on the trail, and I thought it was a bobcat in a hunched-down, crouching position," Leicht said Friday about the fox encounter. "It was probably about 100 feet ahead or maybe more, so I bent down and picked up a rock just to scare it. By the time I stood up, this thing was about five feet away from me."
Leicht, an anesthesiologist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center who lives in the Hokegon neighborhood off Iron Springs Road, about a mile west of Williamson Valley Road toward the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area, said he and Janowski were walking toward the latter's residence when the incident happened.
"I threw a 15- to 20-pound boulder at the fox and it bounced off his back," Leicht said. "I thought that would have deterred him, but he got up, came back at me, grabbed my pants leg, and I finally kicked him with my boot. He kept getting up and tried to attack again."
At that point, Leicht kicked the fox as hard as he could, flinging it into a tree. Leicht and Janowski subsequently ambushed the animal and stoned it to death.
"I was surprised he was so aggressive and that it would come at me at such a distance," Leicht said. "It was growling the whole way it was charging us. Once I kicked it a couple times, it would whimper and growl."
One of Leicht's neighbors plans to erect a homemade sign at the trailhead warning hikers about the possibility of having an encounter with a rabid animal.
Leicht recommends hikers carry hiking sticks and wear boots and long, baggy pants in case something happens.
"We didn't have sticks or anything," said Janowski, adding that he might start packing a .22-caliber pistol for safety when walking the trail. "It was very scary. I'm going to be very observant."
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Posted: Thursday, May 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Open carry
IIRC, it's illegal to carry (open or concealed) near a school, or in a hospital, bar, post office, or federal government building.
Posted: Thursday, May 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Jason
Gracie,
The rabies virus is fatal if untreated, and once it has advanced to the point of infecting the brain, which produces the unpredictable often violent behavior associated with rabies, the disease is invariably fatal.
That fox would likely have continued its unprovoked attack until it or the hikers were dead.
This case was about the hikers trying to get away with their lives rather than animal abuse.
Posted: Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Article comment by:
Horror !
Could not the poor creature been rescued? The brutal violent end of this creature brings shutters to me when I read the story of rock throwing, kicking and beating an ill animal. I guess these macho men feel quite proud of their days murderous work. The fox and other creatures were here well before mankind, let them have their habitat in peace walk elsewhere. I shall pray. Gracie
Posted: Monday, May 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Have Gun, Will Shop
Hey Newbie...Unless otherwise posted, you can openly carry a firearm in a grocery store or anywhere else. I've seen them in Fry's and other local markets. Perfectly legal.
Posted: Monday, May 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Mom of Three Wee Ones
As far as carrying restrictions, you should be able to carry openly (or concealed if you have a current AZ CCW) on pretty much any trail around unless it is specifically posted otherwise. I like to hike with a .45 Colt Commander - I know that if needed, it will stop whatever I need it to.
Posted: Monday, May 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Safe Hiking
I wanna hike with Don! He knows his weaponry!
BTW, as a newbie to the area myself, are there any legal restrictions to hiking with a sidearm in the various area popular hiking trails?
Posted: Monday, May 04, 2009
Article comment by:
How do you ambush an aggresive fox?
Anyway I'm glad the hikers are safe and non-rabid.
Posted: Monday, May 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Don
A .22 might have enough range to damage someone or something in your neighborhood. I carry a .357 loaded with shotshells that are very short range, but should still be powerful enough for such an encounter. This is getting to be a very active "cycle" of rabid animals in Northern AZ.
Posted: Sunday, May 03, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
This is getting crazy.
Posted: Sunday, May 03, 2009
Article comment by:
Mike
Oooohhh, Janowski said the very unpopular words that gun-control advocates don't like to hear, "packing a .22-caliber pistol for safety". Heaven forbid that a gun is used for protection against four-legged animals (or two-legged types also)
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