By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
GOLD HILL ó A 4-year-old Gold Hill boy bravely finished his rabies shots last week after his father fought off a fox that bit him on the knee.
Alex Eagle was playing in his front yard May 7 with his father, Maurice Eagle III, and his 9-year-old sister, Grace, when a fox approached them from a nearby field.
Maurice said he had only seen one other fox in the area a long time ago, and it would run away whenever people got close, so he knew something was wrong.
ěI hollered for Alex to come toward me, but it followed him and started nipping at his leg,î he said. ěWhen he got to me, I just picked up the fox and slammed it on the ground.ě
The animal got up and started coming toward Maurice, so he hit it on the head. The boyís uncle, who also was out in the yard with his wife and daughter, ran to grab a gun and then shot and killed the fox.
ěTheyíre our heroes,î said Alexís mother, Melissa, who was in the house during the attack.
Melissa said she didnít know what to do, so she called 911, who sent Rowan County Animal Control to pick up the fox.
The animal tested positive for rabies, so both father and son had to get a series of vaccine injections. Maurice said heís just glad neither of them got more than minor injuries and no one else was hurt.
ěI didnít think about the fox attacking me,î he said. ěI was concerned about my family. … It could have been a lot worse, for sure.î
Alex is fine and handled his shots bravely, even though a few of them were tough, his mother said.
ěHeís doing really well,î Melissa said. ěHis wound has already healed up and everything.î
Maurice called his son an ěadventurerî and said the encounter ěhasnít fazed him a bit.î
ěThank the Lord I was out there with him when all this happened,î Maurice said. ěGod gave me the ability to do it.î
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.