Fox tests positive for rabies after attacking 78-year-old man in Brier Creek

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The wild fox that attacked a 78-year-old man while he walked his dogs in Raleigh has tested positive for rabies.

The attack happened Saturday on Emerald Creek Drive in Brier Creek.

Dick Claxon said he was minding his business Saturday when a wild fox went past his dogs, Bugatti and Prancer, and bit him on the leg.

"I've read about people getting attacked by bears and things like that. And here I was getting attacked by this small fox," Claxon told ABC11 on Sunday. "The fox had sharp teeth."

Animal Control officers found the fox Sunday on Helmond Way. Tests later confirm the fox was rabid.

Claxon has started post-exposure rabies treatments.

"Let me tell you, the first rabies shot they give you, they go in and give it to you right down in the bites. And that is ouchy," he said.

Claxon is now taking antibiotics and will endure more shots this week