Man attacked by raccoon at CALM
| Monday, Feb 01 2010 11:10 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Feb 02 2010 01:52 PM
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Ian Smith shows the injuries he suffered when attacked by a raccoon at CALM
Ian Smith suffered severe injuries to his hands when he was attacked by a raccoon at CALM. He also had injuries to his right calf.
Ian Smith met his match Sunday in the form of a raccoon.
The 30-year-old, who has studied martial arts since age 8, became the first person in at least a decade to be attacked by an animal at the California Living Museum, which earlier had escaped.
Smith, a CALM member for roughly 15 years, was visiting the zoo in the afternoon with his 8-year-old daughter and a friend. When they walked by the raccoon enclosure, Smith expected to see three raccoons roaming -- but he only saw two.
Then they noticed a raccoon roaming in the distance. Smith knew that wasn't normal.
"Out of nowhere the thing bolted straight out at us," Smith recalled Monday. "It went straight at my daughter, and got a hold of her pant leg."
Smith immediately grabbed and lifted up his daughter, McKinzie.
"Of course I'm going to defend my daughter," Smith said.
As the raccoon charged his leg, Smith repeatedly kicked the animal while holding his daughter. It kept attacking.
"It was so crazy. I kick box and I'm in really good shape. I've kicked that thing harder than I kicked anything in my life," he said. "It still went after me."
Smith handed his daughter to his friend, who then ran to CALM's gift shop. Then the raccoon got even more aggressive.
"I kept kicking it and I tried to get to higher ground. I got on a tree branch, and the tree broke. I landed on my back."
The raccoon then started biting his shoe and tore that off, leaving his foot exposed. As Smith lay on the floor, the raccoon bit his foot and leg, then went for his throat.
"I didn't have a choice but to put my hand in the way," Smith said. "It got a hold of one finger and just tore my finger up -- like a dog plays with a toy and shakes it. It thrashed it, and went right through the bone."
Smith said he somehow managed to flip the raccoon over and hold it to the floor "with every ounce of strength."
That's when CALM officials and another visitor came to help. They distracted the raccoon enough to let go. Officials carried Smith "covered in blood." The ordeal lasted about five minutes, officials said.
"It just exhausted me," Smith said.
A few minutes later, paramedics treated Smith and took him to Kern Medical Center.
X-rays showed the raccoon bit through the top part of his finger, which was hanging by skin, Smith said. However, doctors managed to save it. His daughter suffered only a scratch that produced no blood.
Smith was lying at home Monday, covered in bandages, and hadn't "slept a wink."
"I see that thing getting a hold of my daughter," Smith said. "If there were little kids walking through, they would have been killed."
CALM officials had discovered the raccoon had escaped from its cage early Sunday. They searched for it, found paw prints, but could not track it down, said Jim Varley, spokesman for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
The raccoon was given to CALM a few weeks ago by someone who owned it as a pet but couldn't care for it, he said. It was being quarantined in a cage for a few weeks, a routine for new animals.
The raccoon was captured after the attack and placed in a secure metal cage. County officials said it tested negative for rabies.
"We're grateful he was released from the hospital," Varley said. "We're sorry this happened. He will be taken care of."
Smith was upset that officials would let visitors go through the area knowing there was a raccoon on the loose.
Varley said CALM wouldn't close shop because there's nothing to stop other animals from coming onto CALM grounds, as there is food and water around. This is the first time an animal has attacked a visitor, he said.
"We did everything we could under the circumstances," Varley said. "I think our staff responded appropriately and quickly."
Smith said he's thankful CALM and Kern County Superintendent of Schools officials are taking care of him now, even hand-delivering him medication. He said he lost his insurance recently.
"But that still doesn't change the fact it shouldn't have happened in the first place," Smith said.
David Germano, a Cal State Bakersfield biology professor and campus director of Facility for Animal Care and Treatment, said it's not unusual for raccoons to become aggressive toward humans.
"They're pretty nasty," he said. "Raccoon are vicious carnivores, and they're not afraid of people."
Smith has undergone a series of rabies shots, he said. A typical patient treated for rabies receives several shots initially, and must return to receive five more shots over 28 days, said Claudia Jonah, health officer at the Kern County Department of Public Health.
Local health officials said residents should stay away from wild animals, including raccoons, possums, skunks and bats, and should be treated immediately if they come in contact with them.
Several animal attacks have made headlines in Kern in recent years.
In November, three pit bulls brutally mauled a man in east Bakersfield, which was caught on tape. In 2008, a woman was mauled when she stumbled upon a bear near Piute Mountain Road.
In 2006, a 6-year-old boy was bitten by a rabid bat inside a Bakersfield shoe store. In 2005, a man was severely mauled by two chimpanzees at a Havilah animal sanctuary, losing fingers from both hands, an eye, part of his nose, cheek, lips and buttocks.
