Beaver Chases Children at Hidden Pond Nature Center

One week after an in Lake Barcroft in Falls Church comes a report that a beaver was chasing children Saturday at the Hidden Pond Nature Center in West Springfield.

County Animal Control officers responded to the report that the animal was chasing the children Saturday at about 11:30 a.m., according to a news release from Fairfax County Police.

The children who were chased had just finished competing in a fishing contest when they noticed a beaver in the water swimming toward the dock they were standing on, according to the release. The release said that the beaver leapt out of the water onto the dock and was seen acting aggressively and chasing the children. An animal control officer responded to the scene, cleared the area, and shot the beaver.

No one was bitten and there were no injuries. However, due to another rare incident in which an 83-year-old woman was attacked by a beaver while she was swimming in Lake Barcroft last week, Animal Control Officers decided that the animal should be tested for rabies.

Officials were notified Tuesday that the beaver was rabid.

In an unrelated incident, officials were also notified of a rabid raccoon in the Lake Barcroft area on Sunday. It was seen acting strangely and walking up to people near their homes around 2:30 p.m. in the 6300 block of Lakeview Drive. Due to the concern of the previous beaver incident, animal control officers will, again, canvass the area with educational flyers on the rabies virus.

For more information on rabies, see http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/animal/rabies.htm.