Father And 7-Year-Old Daughter Get Attacked By Rabid Beaver While Kayaking In Pennsylvania

Sep 12, 2018 by apost team

A good parent teaches their child useful skills and spends time with them. Whether they go to the movies or take a walk, they make sure that they have plenty of quality time with their child. Dan Wherley merely wanted to take 7-year-old Layla on a kayaking trip to spend time with her, but he ended up getting more than he bargained for.

Dan and Layla left their homes to go to Adams County, Pennsylvania. They had just started kayaking when something entirely unexpected. A large beaver decided to attack their kayak and would not give up. Later, the family discovered that the beaver was rabid.

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Dan later posted about the experience on Facebook. The father and daughter took their dog on the kayaking trip. It seemed like a normal trip until something grabbed the boat. Dan initially thought that his dog was trying to pull the boat, but then he realized that it was a beaver.

The large beaver started to bite at the boat. It kept trying to crawl into the kayak with Dan and Layla. Terrified for his daughter's safety, Dan started beating the beaver with his paddle. Despite the repeated hits, the beaver would not give up. In a photo of the event, Dan showed an image of the beaver trying to jump out of the water.

While Layla huddled in her own kayak, Dan tried to knock the beaver off of his own kayak. Layla was about 30 yards away from Dan. When Dan finally knocked the beaver off of his kayak, the beaver crossed the creek and swam directly over to Layla.

Dan shouted at Layla to get to the shoreline. As she struggled to escape the beaver, Dan rushed out of his kayak to save his daughter. Layla screamed in terror as the beaver reached her kayak and started to climb on board.

In seconds, Dan had reached his panicked daughter. He punched the beaver, and it fell into the water. Instead of giving up, it immediately lunged at Dan. As Layla and Dan ran toward the shoreline, Dan punched and kicked the beaver to keep it away.

Getting onto the dry land did not help. Even though beavers generally stay in the water, this particular beaver followed them onto the shore. Dan grabbed the only weapon he could find and began chucking rocks at the beaver. The beaver was hit with five rocks, but it still swam toward them again. Finally, Dan grabbed a huge stick and whacked the beaver as hard as he could. Once he had crushed the beaver's skull, the animal finally died.

After this horrific experience, Dan called the authorities about the beaver attack. The Pennsylvania Game Commission told him to go to the hospital and get a rabies shot. In the video and photos of the encounter, blood can be seen on the beaver's teeth. While Dan does not think that the blood was from them, they both got a rabies shot just in case.

Later, the authorities tested the beaver and discovered that it had rabies. It was the first rabid beaver to ever be reported in Adams County. This dreaded disease attacks the central nervous system and leads to death. There is no known treatment for rabies. Thankfully, the father and daughter were not bitten by the beaver. They are still finishing up their rabies shots just to be safe.

Spread awareness about the dangers of rabies and wild animals by telling all of your friends about this article. Do you think that this dad was a true hero?