THETFORD — A Thetford woman is being treated for rabies after she was bitten on the arm by a gray fox on Sunday as she walked along a cornfield in North Thetford Village, according to the Thetford Police Department. The attack came just days after her dog had been scratched by a similar-looking fox.

On Monday, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, in collaboration with Thetford police, located and euthanized a gray fox in the vicinity of the attack by shooting it with a small-caliber rifle, said Sgt. Jeff Whipple, game warden for Central Vermont.

“It’s a gray fox that was in the area next to the site where it happened,” Whipple said. “We can’t say it was 100% the same one, but we have reasonable suspicion.”

The fox’s remains are being transferred to a lab, where the Vermont Department of Health will test the animal’s brain tissue for rabies. Results were expected to take one or two days to process.

In the meantime, all animal attacks should be treated “as rabies-positive,” Whipple said. The woman who was attacked has begun treatment for rabies, he said, and her dog’s rabies vaccine has been updated.

Usually encounters between humans and rabid animals occur when a person approaches an animal that’s acting strangely, Whipple said. “But that fox just came out of nowhere and bit her on the arm,” he said of the attack that led to the bite on Sunday. “So this is really kind of wild.”

On Thursday night, a person in the area had been chased onto their porch by a fox, according to a news release from the Thetford Police Department regarding the incident on Sunday. All three fox encounters occurred within 300 square yards between Clay Road and Route 5.

On Saturday, two people tried to shoo away a fox in the same area and it wouldn’t leave, Thetford Police Chief Mike Scruggs said.

“There are two dens in the area: one of red foxes and one of gray,” Scruggs said. “Rabies is a very unforgiving disease among that type of animal. It will come through and just annihilate a species in an area where they have contact with each other.”

There’s a high probability of more cases of rabies in the den of the gray fox that bit the woman on Sunday, Scruggs said. But he added that he’s seen “Mother Nature’s checks and balances” when it comes to the virus.

As animals infected with rabies usually die within weeks, the virus “tends to run out of carriers to further expand its reach,” he said.

So for the next few weeks, “as we move through this session (of rabies),” Scruggs requested that police dispatch notify him directly in addition to the game warden after receiving calls about animals acting strangely.

“We are a wildlife corridor in Thetford,” Scruggs said, noting that the Connecticut River and Interstate 91 keep animals “corralled here in the valley.”

“As animals are moving about, we don’t need this disease to spread,” he said.

Scruggs declined to identify any of the victims of the fox attacks.

Vector species for the virus — which spreads through saliva — include raccoons and skunks, as well as red and gray foxes, said Brehan Furfey, a wildlife biologist with the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. “In those species, it can spread pretty rapidly,” she said, especially when those animals live in close proximity to one another.

Humans have a degree of control over that. Intentionally feeding wildlife, or leaving garbage or compost outside, can draw high-density populations of vector species to an area, Furfey said.

“It’s different when they’re out in the forest,” she said, “but leaving garbage out can attract, for instance, several raccoons.”

Humans should stay away from wildlife acting strangely, and call the police, who will notify a game warden, Whipple said.

Informing authorities can help tailor state proactive rabies programming, like rabies bait drops, Whipple added.

Earlier this month, Orange County, where Thetford is located, was one of eight counties in the state over which the department dropped blister packs containing rabies vaccines — in the form of sweet-smelling oral bait that is attractive to raccoons and skunks — from low-flying aircraft. But there was not a rabies vaccine drop in Thetford.

As of early August, 23 animals in the state have tested positive for rabies, 12 of which are raccoons. In 2022, 39 animals tested positive. Over half came from Chittenden County, due to a localized outbreak there.

“We know that rabies in humans is almost 100% fatal without treatment,” Whipple said.

Pets should also be kept leashed and vaccinated, he said.

“But I wouldn’t let this deter your outings or your exploration of the forest and fields,” Whipple said. “Now it’s about using caution and being aware of the possibility of unpredictable things.”

If you see a wild or stray animal acting strangely, or are concerned about a rabies exposure, call the police or the Vermont Rabies Hotline at 1-800-4-RABIES (1-800-472-2437).

Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.