Maitland cop fatally shoots rabid otter after multiple people bitten
A Maitland police officer fatally shot a rabid otter last week, days after multiple people — including a startled Swedish transplant to Central Florida — reported being bitten near Lake Maitland.
On Jan. 7, a visitor at John Hudson Park was attacked in the evening. The next morning, Ann-Christine Langselius was walking her Goldendoodle in the middle of the bridge at Lake Lily Park when an otter climbed on one end, ran toward her and clamped on to her leg.
“I’ve never seen an animal behave like this so I kind of guessed it was ill when it went for me,” Langselius said Tuesday. “But the scariest part was that it didn’t let go. It bit me in the Achilles tendon really badly so it hung on for a long time.”
Langselius, who moved to Maitland 18 months ago from Sweden so she could open a factory that produces organic flame retardants, said the otter attack was unprovoked.
“I didn’t disturb it or go near it,” she said. “It hung on for about 25 yards while I was running with it.”
After Langselius was attacked, the otter scampered off. Later that day, another person was injured at an apartment complex about half a mile away on East Packwood Avenue, according to a police report.
All of the victims were taken to local emergency rooms for treatment, prompting a warning from local authorities and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to avoid interactions with the carnivorous mammal.
Warnings posted at Lake Lily Park urged visitors to keep their distance and use a stick if necessary to thwart an encounter. Above a photo of an otter, the fliers say, “CAUTION: Aggressive Otter Reported in Area.”
River otters, members of the weasel family that weigh 15 to 30 pounds, are mostly found in freshwater bodies around the state. Reports of people attacked by river otters have been documented in previous years but are rare, according to FWC.
A couple of days after the Maitland attacks, police were called to a home along the Lake Maitland shoreline because of a sick otter in a resident’s backyard.
Officers said in the report that the animal appeared lethargic and was “seizing and shaking violently” as it slowly made its way into a drainage ditch.
Since there were no boats on the lake or residents nearby, an officer euthanized the otter by shooting it twice, according to the report.
Orange County Animal Services took the otter for testing
and was informed Saturday that the animal had rabies, spokeswoman Alyssa Chandler said.
“The victims are undergoing post exposure vaccinations,” she said in an email.
At the ER, Langselius discovered she had been bitten multiple times on her left leg and the otter also scratched her other calf. She was given an immune globulin shot, pumped with antibiotics and must endure a series of treatments for 28 days.
Local officials have not confirmed whether the rabid otter that was killed was the same otter who attacked the other residents in separate incidents.
FWC said in a statement that it is investigating the series of attacks and working with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County to inform the public of possible dangers.
Anyone who witnesses unusual behavior from a river otter such as approaching pets or acting aggressively is asked to contact the FWC at 888-404-3922.