July 5, 2007

5-year-old boy, bitten by a rabid fox, holds the animal down for more than a minute to protect 6 other children...

Rayshun McDowell. Very impressive.
Rayshun's stepfather, Ryan Thompson, pulled the boy off the animal and kicked it. A neighbor fired a handgun three times but the fox continued to advance.

Thompson, wearing a cast because of a broken leg, said he used a stick and his crutch to beat the fox to death.

This story should be on Fox News, but I got it from CNN.

IN THE COMMENTS: Politics! This seems to be a political story for some reason.

... We have met the rabid animal, and he is us.

MORE: Video of the boy.

55 comments:

Hoosier Daddy said...

A neighbor fired a handgun 3 times? A fox is not that big of an animal so assuming he shot at the fox he's a lousy shot.

I guess it goes to show that guns aren't dangerous but crutches can kill.

vet66 said...

Nice to know that some parents in this country are raising their children to take action when necessary. The leaders of the Democratic Party would have declare the battle lost and tried to negotiate an end to hostilities with the rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth fox.

This kid showed some cojones! Shows discipline, a regard for others at personal peril, and the willingness to make a decision and pursue it to a conclusion.

PETA will probably sue him for cruelty to animals!

Beth said...

That kid was brave and showed an empathy not many 5-year-olds have yet developed.

But why is it some idiots have to try to make everything about politics, and right and left? What a pathetic way to live.

Ann Althouse said...

Vet: It's possible that the kid didn't know any better than to fool with a wild animal. There's the form this story took in the news and what really happened. If you try to picture the scene, it's quite weird.

AllenS said...

"This story should be on Fox News, but I got it from CNN."

Oh, you sly vixen, you.

Kynna2 said...

The oddest thing in the story is at the end. Apparently a 6 year old girl was attacked by a fox the same day and the story seems to imply that it was nearby this incident. They didn't say "the" fox, but "a" fox. A gang of rabid foxes?

Wade Garrett said...

You're right, Ann, it should have been on Fox News, because we all know how personally brave Bill O'Reilly, Brit Hume and Sean Hannity are, unlike all of those total pussies at CNN.

Jeff Faria said...

Hey Wade, thanks for demonstrating that the left has no sense of humor. You completely missed the simple pun of a story about a fox being on Fox News, becuase you just HAD to interject the left-approved opinion of the network's perceived political views. You HAD to do this, even for a story that had nothing to do with politics or the commentartors who you HAD to drag into the discussion. Your self-righteousness and tunnel-vision bigotry just color EVERYthing, don't they fella?

paul a'barge said...

Oh look. Wade "little penis" Garrett is here to tell us who the real pussies are.

Yes folks, hard to believe our good fortune, but the loser who never has anything intelligent to add on any topic, but can't stop his little mouth from screaming "Pay attention to me!", is going to educate us about ... what? Oh right.

Wade Garrett ... nothing.

Beth said...

Hey Mister, and Paul--I must have missed your huffy reply to vet66 and his childish politicizing of the same story Oh wait, it was from the conservative point of view. Never mind! I should have known better to expect you two to be consistent.

Wade Garrett said...

I didn't miss the pun about Fox News, but that wasn't all that Althouse was saying.

Gene said...

Wade is wierd fella. His comment shows he into hemself way too much. Get a life fella..

Jeff Faria said...

'Beth' can't defend Wade, so she lamely tries to attack his critics. Looks tp me like you and Ann commented on vet66 sufficiently, Beth, didn't see any need to pile on further.

I'd have gotten my opinion approved by Beth before I published, but I don't know where the Blogger button for that is.

As for Wade: "I didn't miss the pun about Fox News, but that wasn't all that Althouse was saying."

As a matter of fact that IS all that Ann was saying! She said "Rayshun McDowell. Very impressive." and "This story should be on Fox News, but I got it from CNN." and pasted in a snippet of the story. That was ALL she said. No commentary on Fox politics or personalities. No political context. No conservative or right wing ideology. None. An extraordinary story about a kid, and a pun that a fox should have been on Fox. Nothing else.

Anything else you think you read occurred between your ears. But if you want to just keep showing up and proving my point...

Roger Sweeny said...

I'm one of those "dislocated" independents ("who are both social liberals and fiscal conservatives"). I missed the pun, and I thought of the political media angle--but then I can be pretty oblivious.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/07/who-are-these-so-called-independents.html

JRR said...

Ann, watch out- Wade can read your mind.

Beth, you'll find a much warmer home for your perpetual outrage at Kos.

Jeff Faria said...

"I missed the pun, and I thought of the political media angle--but then I can be pretty oblivious."

Sure, that can happen. But what you DIDN'T do, Roger, is post a comment claiming that the post was really all about polics. You (probably) would have taken a second look at the actual post before you opened your mouth. Some people don't even bother with that first look.

Ray said...

A fox is not that big of an animal so assuming he shot at the fox he's a lousy shot.
Fox is what, large terrier sized? And moving quick. And you're in a neighborhood, which means you're surrounded by stuff you don't want to hit. And you really don't want to get that close to the fox either. Missing a small, dynamic target three times isn't proof of poor shooting. It just means you need to have a shotgun in the trunk.

Richard said...

The story didn't say the neighbor missed. It also didn't say what caliber the handgun was. Having grown up in the hills of Tennessee with guns and a hunting license since I was ten years old (46 years ago) I would like to state for the record that you could put three .22 or .25 caliber bullets in a rabid fox and not stop it. Remember that rabies makes an animal act much as a human does on PCP, you need a heart or head shot to stop with a small caliber (on a moving target).

BBridges said...

Why hasn't anybody mentioned the connection to medical care? If the grandfather didn't have insurance, he wouldnt' have had the crutch to beat the fox to death and if the kid doesn't have insurance, he could still be suffering long term effects of the attack. Where's the national health care angle?

BBridges said...

Oh, and what about global warming?

Anthony said...

Heh. I didn't get the Fox thing either. . . . .Argh.

The Drill SGT said...

good story... good smart kid... leave politics out of it

Terri said...

Amazing story. Brave little boy.

Childish comments.

eh.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Having had the rabies series shots when I was a child, I can only hope that they aren't as painful as I remember them being. They were in the abdomen in the "olden" days.

The comments on this story are pretty funny. They illustrate that some people have no sense of humour. We don't have to be so serious all the time.

Roger J. said...

But Dusts Bunny Queen: the constitution is being shredded; innocent people disappear every day in black helicopters, BUSHCO and the dark lord of the sith are in league with haiiburton and diebold to control the world--and you don't get it! Clearly you are drinking the koolaid! The right wing MSM, Faux news, Rush et al have blinded you. You are doomed! and if the loss of civil liberties isnt bad enough, global warming is upon us as well, and those nasty supreme court judges want their hands all over your uterus. etc.

TMink said...

What bravery, composure, and love in such a young person. Outstanding! It is really humbling and inspiring to think of the scene and how great the boy did in a difficult, dangerous situation.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Missing a small, dynamic target three times isn't proof of poor shooting.

Depending on the range but I won't quibble.

It just means you need to have a shotgun in the trunk.

Huh? That makes a lot of sense when you previously stated:

....And you're in a neighborhood, which means you're surrounded by stuff you don't want to hit.

Randy said...

What bravery, composure, and love in such a young person. Outstanding! It is really humbling and inspiring to think of the scene and how great the boy did in a difficult, dangerous situation.

Well said, Trey. Well said!

(And "Enough said!: for my tastes, but there's no accounting for taste, I guess, as we can see here.)

paul a'barge said...

that wasn't all that Althouse was saying

Oh Wade? Just wondering. What's it like to be Mayor of Morontown?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

"Huh? That makes a lot of sense when you previously stated:

....And you're in a neighborhood, which means you're surrounded by stuff you don't want to hit."

A bullet travels much farther than shotgun pellets and could hit a person quite a distance. A shot gun covers a larger area and would more likely be able to hit a small moving target than a single bullet.

Colorado Wellington said...

Wade Garrett:

You need to broaden your horizons and read more William F. Buckley. Here is one from him:

Two officers stand in a hotel lobby when two women appear on the stairs. The captain leans over to the major and remarks:

"This must be the ugliest woman I've ever seen."
The major replies, "That is my wife."

"Oh, I meant the other one!" evades the captain.
"That's my mother," says the major.

"I did not say it," replies the captain with certainty.

All you need to do, Wade, is to post something like "I didn't say it". You need to learn when to stop digging.

Beth said...

Jeff, I'm very happy here, but you're welcome to return to Little Green Snotballs anytime you want.

Mister, Mister: your partisan slip is showing.

Hoosier Daddy said...

A shot gun covers a larger area

Precisely.

Beth said...

There's some synchronicity here with a post from a day or so back: Was Atticus Finch wearing seersucker when he shot the rabid dog?

Wince said...

I thought Wade Garrett was grizzled cowboy killed at the "Double Douche" in Road House 1?

Or did I miss the sequel where he is re-animated as a snarky leftist zombie?

Anonymous said...

This is hilarious and, at a deeper level, Wade's odd comments offer some insight into the weirdness of a mind eaten away by Bush Derangement Syndrome.

Dewave said...

The best part about this thread is Wade, as usual, completely failing to get the point and going off into a political tirade because he missed Ann's admittedly obvious pun.

So seeeeerious!

Dewave said...

A fox is not that big of an animal so assuming he shot at the fox he's a lousy shot

Uh, I don't quite follow this.

"A fox is hard to hit, so if the guy missed the fox, he sucks"

??

Trying to hit a small moving animal with a handgun is not terribly easy, despite what we may see in the movies.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Trying to hit a small moving animal with a handgun is not terribly easy, despite what we may see in the movies

Ok I'm sorry I brought it up. I've been shooting since I was a teen so perhaps my marksmanship expectations are higher than others.

MadisonMan said...

I didn't get the obvious pun either. Maybe Ann should've put Fox in italics. That would've helped me.

Harkonnendog said...

I missed the pun too. Can you write {elbow nudge! elbow nudge!} or something next time?

Roger J. said...

Ahhh--I see the problem of pun nonrecognition: The fair professor failed to spell Fox News in the lefty style; eg, FAUX. I thought the pun was very obvious--perhaps too obvious, but I am hopeless dedicated to puns and other groaners as the highest form of humor.

Anonymous said...

Please dumb down your blog for sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome, and also Madison Man.

Cedarford said...

Funny so many missed Althouse's sweet little pun from their mental preconditioning.
I had that moment thinking to myself "Why should a story about a rabid fox be on...Fox..news? Oh, duh!! (Smacks forehead).

As for pistols, a great handy thing to have. A Constitutional right no matter what Nanny State foes claim. Better than shotguns for a large number of self-defense situations. But they require more training than a shotgun. And some people no matter what their training, remain either lousy shots or people that lack the judgement and temperment to have a pistol. Or all 3 things.

Not surprised that someone misses a small moving target with a pistol when you add concern about bystanders, fear, and excitement into the situation. You'd be amazed at how badly military marksmanship declines when you deliberately stress soldiers, introduce fear and anxiety to simulate in training their physiological state if they go into combat. Except for a minority that actually become better shots because stress and fear causes them to focus better. (Natural born killers)

And a gratuitous safety reminder. You don't have to get bit by a rabid animal to be exposed to rabies. Just handling a rabid animal, living or dead, may be enough. The only human to ever survive rabies was a Midwestern girl who picked up and discarded a dead rabid bat at her church. She had no broken skin. Doctors think she must have transferred the still-living viruses to her mouth or eye somehow...The girl was interviewed a year later. She has apparantly made a complete recovery.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I was about nine when I pulled my four year old brother's foot out of a moving escalator track. Don't know if he would have been injured or killed but he got a new pair of Keds sneakers (remember them) from the store as his were mangled a bit.

People generally don't think in those situations- they just react.

And I did not get the Fox news thing either Ann- next time use Faux as someone else has also suggested.

paul a'barge said...

EDH, you are spot on!

It was the Double Deuce by the way. And, Wade Garrett was played by Sam Elliott.

MadisonMan said...

7machos: I will say in my defense that I'm leaving on a big trip overseas for work tomorrow and I'm a little frazzled today. But even on a normal day that might have whooshed right over my head.

KCFleming said...

Re: "I wanted to protect my little brother," said Rayshun McDowell

God, doesn't that just break your heart?

Ann Althouse said...

Wade: "I didn't miss the pun about Fox News, but that wasn't all that Althouse was saying."

LOL. It sure was. It's news about a fox. So it should be on Fox News. It's the most transparent, straightforward joke I've ever put on the blog. It would make a 5-year-old laugh.

blake said...

LOL. It sure was. It's news about a fox. So it should be on Fox News. It's the most transparent, straightforward joke I've ever put on the blog. It would make a 5-year-old laugh.

Which is why I prefer dealing with 5-year-olds than grownups.

Anonymous said...

You know I love you, Madison Man.

The Drill SGT said...

MM and Beth may have been inflected by the BDS bug, but in their case I think they'll survive. They seem to have periods of lucidity and that is always a good sign :)

Beth said...

No, Drill Sgt., I don't recall ever having an attack of Bush Devotion Syndrome. I think I'd remember that; wouldn't it leava a scar? Or at least a nagging itch.

zzRon said...

Madisonman said...." But even on a normal day that might have whooshed right over my head."

Oh my God! An honest liberal? Maybe there is hope for us yet? For the record, it "whooshed" over my head as well....like a stealth fighter :-(.

Wade Garrett said...

It might make a five-year old laugh, but not somebody with, you know, an actual adult sense of humor. That's a corny pun from the Carrie Bradshaw School of Inane Prose. I expected better . . .