Hiker hurls possibly rabid fox into cactus during relentless attack at TX park

A college student taking a hike after work was relentlessly attacked and repeatedly bitten by a potentially rabid fox at a Texas park, she says.

Michelle Danos, a student at Texas State University in San Marcos, was visiting Purgatory Creek Natural Area at about 5 p.m. on Sunday when the attack happened, she told McClatchy News.

Four people were reportedly attacked by the fox, two of whom were bitten, the City of San Marcos said in a Facebook post.

“The City is investigating reports of a fox that attacked individuals on May 11 near the Beatrice, Dante, and Ripheus trails,” the city said.

“While the area remains open, please avoid these trails until further notice.”

Danos is no stranger to the outdoors. She loves backpacking, kayaking, and going on weekly hikes at Purgatory Creek, but she was completely caught off guard by what happened Sunday, she said.

She was only about 10 minutes into her hike when she heard something “rustling” in the foliage behind her. Danos turned around, expecting to see a deer or squirrel, but instead a fox appeared, and it started walking toward her, she said.

Danos quickly realized something was wrong with the fox as the normally timid animal brazenly approached her. She yelled at it, as one might shout at a black bear, but the fox didn’t seem to care.

“I kept walking and it followed me. I turned around and next thing I knew it was biting my ankle,” Danos said.

She kicked the fox off her leg, but it came back and bit her again. She picked it up, and it clamped down on her hand before she launched the animal toward the treeline.

“It was kind of terrifying,” Danos said. She kept moving, now making her way back to the trailhead to leave.

The fox wouldn’t let up.

Danos started throwing rocks at it and, regrettably, her phone.

“I actually threw my phone in one of the instances, which is embarrassing,” she said. “It’s still somewhere up in Purgatory.”

The fourth time the fox sank its teeth into her, Danos tossed it away again, then started running and shouting for help, hoping someone was around to hear.

The fox still wasn’t done. It bit Danos again and she picked it up and hurled it into a cactus, she said.

Adrenaline was pumping, and she hardly felt any pain. All she could think about was making it back to the trailhead ASAP, especially now that her phone was lost.

But the fox came back for more. It latched onto Danos’s leg, and she grabbed it and slammed it onto the ground.

It finally had enough and slinked off into the trees, Danos said.

Once she made it to safety, the pain began to set in. She felt panicked when she looked down and saw the blood leaking from her arms and legs. She was taken to a hospital and given a series of shots, three or four to her left arm, two to her right arm and another in the leg — treatment for rabies.

She got a second dose on Wednesday, and will receive a third and fourth shot in the coming days, she said.

“There’s a lot of anxiety I still have,” Danos said. “I’ll see something out of the corner of my eye or I’ll hear something move in the bushes by my apartment and I’ll think something is coming to get me.”

That won’t keep her from going outside or from going back to Purgatory Creek, she said, though she’ll probably be choosing a different trail.

“Hiking is just what I love to do,” she said.

Danos doesn’t blame the fox. It hasn’t been caught or found, and it’s unconfirmed whether it was rabid, but its behavior strongly suggests it was.

Renita Bock was hiking at Purgatory Creek with her son and went through a similar ordeal as Danos, Bock told the San Marcos Daily Record.

“We passed this little bush area, and all of a sudden, I hear this screaming; and this fox comes behind me and starts attacking me,” she told the outlet.

City officials are warning anyone who has been in contact with the fox to seek medical attention.

“Foxes rarely attack humans, and the unusual behavior raises concerns that the animal may be sick, potentially with the rabies virus,” Animal Service Manager Christie Banduch told the outlet. “It’s important that any individuals who may have been exposed seek medical attention as soon as possible.”

San Marcos is a roughly 30-mile drive southwest from Austin.

This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Hiker hurls possibly rabid fox into cactus during relentless attack at TX park."