NEED TO KNOW
Hal Hamilton was bitten by a raccoon while walking to the mailbox in Rhode Island on Oct. 2
The 91-year-old used his cane to fend off the raccoon after it returned for a second attack
The Barrington resident suffered leg bites and sought rabies vaccination treatment after reporting the encounter
A 91-year-old Rhode Island man is recovering after being attacked by a raccoon on his front porch.
Hal Hamilton was attacked while walking down the stairs of his Barrington home to the mailbox at around 9 a.m. local time on Oct. 2, NBC 10 WJAR reported.
“I felt something like a bolster had been rolled down the stairs behind me and got me right in the back of both knees. And then the bolster bit,” he told the outlet.
Hamilton said he initially managed to fend off the raccoon, but the wild animal came back ready to attack him a second time, per WJAR.
“The raccoon regained its composure, having been kicked off the stairs, and looked like it was going to have an assault number two,” he recalled. Hamilton had his cane with him, which he used to “crack [the raccoon] over the head,” causing him to run away.
The 91-year-old suffered bite marks on his legs in the attack and reported the attack to Rhode Island’s Department of Health (RIDOH), per WJAR.
RIDOH said in a statement to PEOPLE on Monday, Oct. 19, “Our public health nurses interviewed a person who had an encounter with a raccoon in Barrington, Rhode Island during the week of October 5. However, the person was not treated with the rabies vaccine, based on the information they shared.”
The raccoon was not tested for rabies, RIDOH confirmed. The department did not reveal the person’s identity.
A raccoon (stock image)
Credit: Getty
Hamilton told WJAR of his injuries, “I looked at the other side of the tracksuit bottoms, there is no mark. So, what I feel is that those little claws pulled that up and they got a clear shot at the flesh there and gave me a rip.”
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Hamilton reached out to Rhode Island’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) for advice after the incident.
He also sought a rabies vaccine treatment and said he first visited Brown Urgent Care, but was told he could not be treated there and needed to go to a hospital in Newport, per WJAR. He instead went to a local CVS, where he paid $440 for the vaccine as his insurance didn’t cover it. He also received a follow-up booster after the attack.
Hamilton recalled telling the pharmacy staff, “I don’t care if you multiply that by five, get it in there.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the DFW for comment.
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