ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The beaver that attacked and bit a paddle boarder on Beaver Lake tested positive for rabies.
The attack, which occurred Friday, sent a 67-year-old woman to Mission Hospital with lacerations and bites on her leg and both hands.
Dr. Richard Oliver, director of the state's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Arden, N.C., confirmed Tuesday afternoon that testing done on the 44-pound male beaver's brain showed the animal had rabies. Oliver has seen plenty of rabies cases in other animals in his 31-year career, but never before in a beaver.
"This is it," Oliver said. "We have had beavers increasing in numbers, but this is it."
Mike Carraway, a wildlife biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said it is unusual for beavers to get rabies, but the confirmed case in this beaver is cause for concern with other beavers at the lake, as well as other animals.
Beaver Lake, off Merrimon Avenue, is popular with paddlers and people who walk and run around the lake's perimeter.
"I would say to carry a walking stick and be sure to pay attention to your surroundings," Carraway said, adding the animals most likely to have rabies are raccoons, foxes, coyotes and skunks. "Obviously, since this beaver tested positive, it likely could affect other beavers in the lake. People should pay attention and make sure they have their pets vaccinated."
Carraway said the lake's beavers would be monitored for erratic behavior.
The rabid beaver attacked North Asheville resident Betsy Bent on Friday afternoon as she was paddle boarding on the lake with her husband.
"I saw a big splash, but I didn't see what the splash was from," said Bent, 67, who has used Beaver Lake for 22 years. "It came up under my board and knocked my board over, and then it latched onto my leg and wouldn't let go. I didn't know what it was at that time. I didn't think there was any 'Jaws' in Beaver Lake."
Once Bent fell in the water, the beaver kept attacking.
"I was yelling, 'Help, I'm being bitten!'" she said. " A very nice fisherman was talking to me and motioning me to come over, and then it turned around and attacked me again and latched onto my hand. Then it came around a third time and latched onto my other hand."
The angler helped beat the beaver off her and brought Bent to shore. She was transported to Mission Hospital for care of multiple lacerations.
"Beavers chew on logs, so I've got some pretty good lacerations and staples and stitches," Bent said.
She also had to begin the rabies shot protocol, which requires multiple shots over several days.
Rabies is a serious viral disease often transmitted through animal bites. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes, according to the CDC's website.
The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death, according to the CDC. The shots prevent the disease from progressing.
Animals with rabies often display symptoms including excessive salivation or foaming at the mouth and aggressive behavior. They also can have a disheveled appearance.
An Asheville Police Department's Animal Control officer helped the Beaver Lake warden catch the animal after the incident. The animal was euthanized so its brain could be tested for rabies at the state lab in Raleigh.
Carraway said it is unusual for beavers, which can weigh up to 70-80 pounds, to attack humans.
"It’s pretty rare, but it has happened before and it has happened in North Carolina before," Carraway said. "In a situation like that, you want to treat it like it is rabies."
Oliver said North Carolina did have one case of rabies in a beaver in 2015, in Hertford County.
Bent, who retired from Mission as director of senior services, said the series of shots is not as bad as the older routine, which involved more than a dozen shots in the abdomen.
She did receive three shots the first day, had a followup shot Monday and will need shots on the seventh and 14 days after the attack.
Insurance will cover most of the cost, she said.
A frequent lake user, Bent said she's never fallen off her paddle board before this incident. She also does not want people to get a bad impression of the North Asheville lake.
"We've lived just up the road for 22 years," Bent said. "It's a wonderful lake. This is just a bizarre accident. We’ll be back again."
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