Animal Attacks Boy In Rehoboth

A 12-year-old Rehoboth boy is recovering after being attacked by what authorities think was a fisher cat, a member of the weasel family.

Wes Brown was bitten on the leg and hand while throwing a football with his cousin during a family cookout at about 9 p.m. Monday in his backyard.

The Sun Chronicle reports that his mother, Stephanie Brown, threw a hammer at the animal, which ran off.

Animal Control Officer Jane Foster said Wes was taken by ambulance to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island where he received five shots for rabies as a precaution.

Foster says authorities at first thought a fox attacked the boy, but now believe it was fisher cat based on his description of the animal.