Brunswick man, 95 years old, rabid fox clubs that he meets in his yard

BRUNSWICK – A 95-year-old man used a broken plank to repel an enraged fox on Monday.

Robert Galen is the third person in Brunswick to have faced a mad fox in the last 10 days. Two residents were attacked on June 17. This fox was killed by a policeman.

Galen has lived in his home on Breckan Road for more than 50 years. Located in Meadowbrook, there are woods behind his house and Mere Brook, so he sees a variety of animals.

Monday afternoon, Galen had an alarming encounter with a fox weighing about 10 pounds.

He had repaired his bridge and was walking around the house to get some planks. Wearing work gloves, he picked up a broken plank the size of a club and, looking up, saw an adult fox "looking me straight in the eye."

Galen thought the fox was less than two feet away.

"I was aware of the incidents of rabies in Brunswick, so I almost instinctively hit that animal on the head with the club that I had, thankfully, in my hand," he said. -he says.

When asked if the animal had attacked or thrown at him, "it never had the opportunity," Galen said. "Any fox or rabbit or skunk that approaches a human being in a foot and a half is abnormal."

It took him about 10 minutes to master the animal. While he was fighting the animal, he fell back into a bush but continued to hit the fox.

A Maine guard took the fox dead and on Tuesday the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention informed him that the animal had been tested positive for rabies.

He was relieved.

"I did not want to kill an innocent animal," he said.

Although he had some scratches on the top of his basketball, the fox did not get into his sock. Galen said that he did not come into contact with the saliva of the animal, "but I was close to me."

"Our advice is that anyone who has contact with a possibly rabid animal wants professional advice on next steps," said Cmdr. Mark Waltz.

Galen consulted with his family doctor, and although he was injured on his back when he fell, he believes that he will be ready to return to his normal activities from here next week. He plays golf or bicycle at least four times a week.

He alerted everyone in his neighborhood to the rabid fox and warned neighbors to keep an eye on their pets especially in case they would interact with the fox.

"We want to remind people to make sure their animals are up to date on their rabies vaccines because there seems to be rabies in the area," Waltz said.

Barbara Senecal, 72, of Brunswick and her neighbor Mark Allred were treated for the June 17 attacks. Senecal had bites on both legs and on her arm while she was trying to control the fox. Allred suffered a bite in his hand.