Rabid Beaver Attacks Pennsylvania Man Kayaking With 7-Year-Old Daughter

A Pennsylvania father was kayaking with his little girl when they had an unexpectedly terrifying wildlife encounter on the water.

In a startling Facebook post on Wednesday, Dan Wherley documented the moment he and his 7-year-old daughter, Layla, were approached by very angry beaver.

"I felt something grab my kayak and thought it was my dog, it wasn't," Wherley wrote. "It was a big a** crazy beaver."

Wherley said the beaver was relentless as it used its impressive incisors to chomp at the kayak in a bid to climb inside. 

"I kept beating it with the paddle," Wherley recalled. "It wouldn't give up. Finally it swam to the opposite side of creek and turned and saw Layla on her kayak."

Afraid for his daughter's life, Wherley yelled for her to get to shore as she "was screaming bloody murder."

As Layla made it to shore, Wherley continued to fight off the beaver, even after jumping from his kayak and finding himself face to face with it in waist-deep water.

Even after bashing the beaver with a heavy rock multiple times, Wherley said it persisted until he finally used a stick to end its misery and his terror.

"I've never seen an animal that voilent [sic] and persistent," he said. 

Wherley contacted wildlife officials and required preventative rabies shots because the ordeal left him covered in its blood.

Since his initial post, Wherley added an update that confirmed what was suspected all along: The beaver was, indeed, suffering from rabies.

While Wherley's daughter was traumatized by the attack and likely won't be using her pink kayak anytime soon, he said he's happy it's over, for everyone's sake — including their dog.

"I'm just glad it didn't bite either of us," he said. "Our sissy bloodhound hid safely in the weeds far away during all of this."

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