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Man, daughter, grandchildren riding ATV attacked by fox in Union County

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — At least four people have to get a series of painful rabies shots after three of them were attacked by what appeared to be a rabid fox over the holiday weekend.

“It was fast,” said Bo Hancock, who was bitten by the fox. “It was (really) fast, and there was no noise. It didn’t growl or anything. It was weird.”

Hancock was bitten on both sides of her ankle. On Saturday, she was on a Polaris side-by-side ATV with her father, five-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter. They were on Mullis Road in Union County picking up sticks and debris around the family pond.

That’s when the fox suddenly appeared and jumped on her daughter, biting her leg.

[ALSO READ: Dog kills rabid fox on family’s property in Gaston County]

“My daughter’s leg is like, up in the air. She’s screaming. The fox has bit her calf and still holding on,” Hancock said.

Her father, Phillip Hancock, used a metal trash picker to try and beat the animal away.

“It came back and bit Bo, this time nipping at her shoe and exposed ankle,” he said. “I mean, I was scared to death, too. It happened like that.”

They rode the Polaris back to the house and called 911. A sheriff’s deputy, EMS and Animal Control all responded. They couldn’t find the fox but urged those bitten to get medical help immediately.

About an hour later, Phillip Hancock took cellphone video of a deer that showed up in the yard. It walked up to him and allowed him to touch it.

“He’s just standing there, walking around in a daze, and I’m petting the thing, talking to it,” he said.

He was concerned about the deer’s behavior, because it was not afraid at all. Phillip Hancock will also be getting rabies shots because the deer licked him, and doctors didn’t want to take chances that it might be sick, too.

[READ MORE: North Carolina woman attacked by rabid fox while on her bed]

The next day, on the Fourth of July, their neighbor Bridger Medlin hosted a party with more than 20 people. They knew about the fox attack the day before so they were looking out for it. Some people were also carrying guns just in case.

The fox crashed the party.

“Right after the fireworks when we were all walking back to the house, the fox chased me down and bit me on the back of the leg or the foot. It did a circle through the crowd and, fortunately, didn’t bite anyone else,” Medlin said. “You could tell it was rabid. It was running in circles. Sad to see an animal that way.”

He also knew something was wrong because the fox was around a large group of people and fireworks but wasn’t afraid. Medlin had to spend his holiday evening in the emergency room.

One of the party guests was able to fire a few shots at the fox as it ran off. They don’t know if it was hit or not.

Next door, the Hancock’s grandchildren were afraid Tuesday to go outside. Animal Control told them that due to the fox’s condition, the animal may only live a few days.

The course of a rabies treatment is four shots spread over several weeks, plus injections at the bite site, as well.

Union County deputies said they are looking into the incidents after both families contacted law enforcement and Animal Control. The Hancocks also reached out to North Carolina Wildlife but haven’t heard back from that agency by Tuesday night.

(WATCH BELOW: York County Animal Control: Woman fought off attack from rabid fox)