Neighbors, officials track, kill fox that attacked toddler
Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
Published June 29, 2007 at midnight
The undeterred fox that got too close with some Barnum neighbors before it bit a little girl was shot and killed by a wildlife officer, Denver's animal control director said Thursday.
With the help of the neighbors and the Division of Animal Control, a Division of Wildlife officer killed the fox Wednesday night.
Although some neighbors called the critter Foxy because they thought it was female and had kits, it actually was a male, Doug Kelley, Division of Animal Control director, said.
Neighbors said they knew that the fox that was killed was the one that repeatedly bit 2-year- old Jasmine Estrada Ibarra on Sunday because it displayed the same familiar physical characteristics - including walking with a limp.
"This one was the right one, and it was shot and killed," Kelley said.
Authorities are required to euthanize a wild animal when it bites a human so that it can be tested for rabies, he said. A necropsy will be performed on the fox to determine if it was rabid.
Animal control officials, wildlife officers and neighbors have been trying to corner the culprit since Sunday, and they set up several traps in the area where the child was attacked, Kelley said.
Officers trapped a fox Tuesday night, but they released it after concluding that it wasn't the one that attacked the child, Kelley said.
Neighbors said the fox that bit the girl often interacted with humans. They said it had become too comfortable with people in part because others had fed it.
Kelley emphasized to residents that they should not feed wild animals such as foxes.
Foxes survive in natural habitat, which can include an urban environment, by feeding on rodents, rabbits, birds, some vegetation and fruit.
gutierrezh@RockyMountainNews.com
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