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Gray fox bites pedestrian in Shippensburg

Gray fox.jpg

A gray fox pauses for a photo, and its mate (not in view) watches nearby. This photo was not taken locally. (Photo courtesy Jimmy Zabriskie)

(Shippensburg) – A fox that bit a person walking the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail on Thursday remained at large on Friday.

An animal described as a gray fox bit a person early Thursday afternoon as she was walking the rail trail at the edge of Shippensburg University near the Fogelsanger Road bridge, according to Bert Einodshofer, a game warden supervisor in the southcentral region.

“It was unprovoked and just unexpectedly came out from below or near the bridge and bit her,” Einodshofer said. “Apparently after she shook it off, it just ran away.”

A game warden from the Pennsylvania Game Commission warden searched the area for the fox, but it has not been located and no additional sightings had been reported as of noon Friday, according to Einodshofer.

He urged people in the area to remain aware and to be extra observant.

“If you see an animal and it allows you to get closer, keep your distance until the animal disappears or turns around,” Einodshofer said. When healthy wild animals feel they have been detected, they normally retreat to where they feel safe.

Such attacks are “fairly rare,” Einodshofer said. It may be an indication of a health issue. The animal also may have felt threatened or been protecting something.

A dense understory lines the wooded trail in the area and reduces sight distance, he said.

The section of rail trail opened last year when the bridge was installed. Goats recently were employed to eat invasive Japanese knotweed at the edges of the trail.

The trail extends from Shippensburg to east of Newville and is open to pedestrians, bicycles and horses.

The incident appears unrelated to three silver foxes that were photographed a week earlier in southern Franklin County near Mercersburg, according to Einodshofer. Officials believe the silver foxes, which appeared to be tame, were released to the wild.

“We believe the fox in question (at Shippensburg) was a gray fox and appeared small, but normal-looking,” he said. “The victim is very knowledgeable about wildlife and confident it was a gray fox.”

The gray fox, unlike his cousin red fox, has a coarser, grizzled gray coat with buff-colored underfur. Its long bushy tail has a black streak running its length and a black tip. First year pups leave the den in mid-July or August and may forage with their parents another month.

A gray fox may be a yard long from nose to tail and weigh about 10 pounds.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion

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