Video: Otter pursues, spades woman at Rockland beach

ROCKLAND – Laurie Nevins says she's done nothing to provoke the river otter that invaded Sandy Beach in Rockland on June 27 and bit her at the ankle and foot.

"I've always thought otters were friendly" One day in an interview at the Megunticook Campground in Rockport

Nevins of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, visited the Midcoast as part of a meeting. an RV trip with her husband, Daniel, and their friends, Westley and Christine Marshall. They went to Sandy Beach in South Rockland during a sunny day to collect shells and fetch sea glass.

There were a number of children and of parents on the beach this afternoon, when a river otter came ashore. She says she started chasing kids around the beach.

"The thing went crazy chasing them," she says.

She lifted her mobile phone to take a video and zoom in. She threw herself on his foot and did not let go.

Westley then threw herself into action, using a scooper that she used to pick up shells to attack the otter, which refused to let go. for a few more minutes. Eventually, he was able to drive him into the water

He said that he was hissing.

Nevins says she and the group then tried to flee the beach by climbing a concrete staircase, but it was slow because her husband, Daniel, has a disability. While they were trying to leave the otter, they came back.

"They scream, it goes up the stairs," recalls Nevins. "… At that time, I was an emotional mess, bleeding all over."

The Rockland Police and the Maine Maritime Patrol were called to the scene.

Corrie Marine Specialist Corrie Roberts said that unfortunately the police had to shoot the otter because she had bitten a human and needed to be tested for rabies. The otter was sent to a state laboratory in Augusta for testing.

Nevins went to the Pen Bay Medical Center where she said the doctor said that he had never faced an otter bite before. She is waiting to know if the animal has had rabies and may need to undergo shots to prevent it from contracting this disease. She said that because she was biting her foot, rabies would take longer to spread to the rest of her body.

Roberts said that it is important for safety to stay away from wild animals and to avoid any contact with them. While river otters may seem mischievous, she said that they were fiery wild animals.

She said that they would normally try to capture and move the animal in this situation, but once he has bitten someone, he has to test it. Meanwhile, police and navy officers spent hours tracking down the creature around the South End to the Dragon Cement property and later to the beach where she had returned.

Nevins and Westley expressed concern about the safety of the beach.

"If she had attacked a child, it would have been ten times worse than attacking an adult," she said.

She and Christine Marshall said that they felt bad that the otter had to be They insisted that they did nothing to create the situation

Nevins said that it was a traumatic incident that will be with her for the rest of her life.

"It was like we were in a movie," Adds Christine

Daniel Dunkle can be reached at [email protected]