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\u201c[The otter] just came up to us out of nowhere,\u201d she told Newsweek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her husband, who\u2019d always liked otters\u2014his boss once kept a few that swam in her pool\u2014thought the animal was cute at first<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n But the curiosity quickly turned into chaos. The family had been using steak as bait and the otter \u201cwould not leave us alone,\u201d Lauren said in a follow-up video on TikTok. \u00a0<\/p>\n As the two boys leaned over the dock to watch, Lee threw his arm down into the water and the otter jumped up and bit his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lauren said the bite wasn\u2019t deep enough to require stitches, but she knew animal bites carried other risks. With the local health department and animal control closed for the night, the family headed straight to the ER.\u00a0<\/p>\n When she saw the doctor looking up otters on the internet, Lauren saw the funny side. \u201cMy son did great through the whole thing,\u201d she added. \u00a0<\/p>\n With no local zoo, animal control or wildlife experts available to consult that night, they had to call an on-call specialist for advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lauren had already done her own research while waiting. \u201cI knew, per my own Google search, it said that there is the possibility that [otters] could carry rabies<\/a>,\u201d she said, referring to the viral disease that is transmitted via the saliva of infected animals.<\/p>\n Eventually, the decision was left to her: proceed with the rabies shots or risk waiting. \u201cI said, well, \u2018Lee, you’re gonna [sic] have to deal with the pain, and you’re gonna [sic] have to get the shots,\u201d Lauren recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n The treatment, though necessary, was excruciating as the doctors had to inject the rabies vaccine directly into the wounds. \u201cIt was the most traumatizing… shot ever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the next few weeks, Lee returned to the health department three separate times for follow-up doses. \u00a0<\/p>\n As for Lee, now six, he\u2019s fully recovered\u2014and even braved the site of the incident again. <\/p>\n \u201cThe incident was reported to animal control and the health department,\u201d Lauren said. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone fishing in the same spot since but have not seen the otter.\u201d<\/p>\n