Rabid beaver attacks father and daughter kayaking

ADAMS COUNTY, PA (WCMH) — A rabid beaver attacked a man and his daughter kayaking in Pennsylvania.

Dan Wherley and his 7-year-old daughter Layla were kayaking on the Conewago Creek, when a beaver approached them.

“I looked, and it was a beaver scratching at it, and I thought ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool- a beaver came up to us!’ It wouldn’t stop, so I used my paddle tried to hit it to get it away, and it just wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop,” Wherley told WPMT.

That’s when things got scary.

The beaver then turned its attention to Layla.

“The beaver came up to the kayak, and tried to get in the kayak,” said Layla.

“I jumped out of my kayak and ran to her. I got to her kayak the same time the beaver did, it climbed up on the back of her kayak, started to, and I had to punch it to get it off, cause I didn’t have anything with me,” said Wherley.

Eventually Wherley was able to kill the beaver when it followed them to shore. 

“I was just worrying about her getting bit. That would’ve been horrible. I couldn’t imagine,” Wherley told WPMT.

Adams County officials say this is the first time there’s been a rabid beaver in the area.