A 13-year-old boy was seriously injured after a rabid beaver suddenly attacked him while he was swimming in a Maryland lake — an encounter his family says came without warning.
Dominick Cebula was swimming at Hunting Creek Lake inside Cunningham Falls State Park on July 26 when the animal reportedly charged at him from deeper water.
His mother and younger brother were watching from shore.
Dominick’s aunt, Leigh Cebula, said the teenager had been diving underwater and looking at fish when a roughly 4-foot-long beaver suddenly headed directly toward him.
“This thing was as big as his 8-year-old brother,” she wrote in a GoFundMe describing the ordeal.
According to the family, Dominick did not approach or provoke the animal before it attacked.
The beaver latched onto his chest and began biting him, leaving wounds to his hands and upper body.
Dominick’s father, Jeff Cebula, later said the animal was shaking its head and refusing to let go as the teenager struggled to fight it off.
The injuries were serious enough that emergency crews became concerned one of the wounds may have punctured his lung.
Dominick was airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital for further treatment.
“It was so traumatic,” his mother, Alishia Cebula, told Fox News.
Doctors eventually determined that his lung had not been punctured.
But the teenager still suffered significant injuries, including nerve damage to one of his fingers.
He underwent surgery Sept. 4 to repair the severed nerve, his mother said.
Dominick also had to undergo rabies post-exposure treatment after testing confirmed that the beaver responsible for the attack was infected with the deadly virus.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials confirmed the July 26 attack involved a 13-year-old swimmer.
The beaver was captured and euthanized after the incident and tested positive for rabies the following day.
Rabies can cause abnormal aggression and other major behavioral changes in infected animals, which may help explain why a normally wary beaver would aggressively approach a person.
Beavers are generally considered non-aggressive toward humans and usually try to avoid confrontations.
Maryland DNR said attacks on people are rare and are thought to primarily involve animals infected with rabies.
The attack was especially shocking for Dominick’s family because they had spent years swimming at the lake.
His aunt said they had never previously encountered a beaver there.
However, Maryland DNR records show Hunting Creek Lake contains beaver habitat, including lodges along parts of the shoreline. The 42-acre lake is also a popular destination for swimming, fishing and boating.
Dominick’s attack would not be the last frightening encounter at the park that summer.
On Aug. 5, less than two weeks later, a 19-year-old fisherman was bitten on the ankle by another beaver at Hunting Creek Lake.
That animal was also captured, euthanized and later confirmed to have rabies.
The pair of attacks prompted Maryland officials to close additional areas around the lake while wildlife experts investigated a possible rabies problem among the local beaver population.
Wildlife crews carried out nighttime thermal surveys, installed trail cameras, set traps and searched for other signs of beaver activity.
By Aug. 24, officials said they had found no evidence of additional rabid beavers and reopened Hunting Creek Lake and the surrounding portions of Cunningham Falls State Park.
DNR said no additional beavers were detected during the intensive monitoring effort.
Dominick, meanwhile, has continued recovering from his injuries.
His mother said he was doing much better following his September surgery and had undergone numerous medical appointments as part of his recovery.
That included the series of rabies shots needed after exposure to an infected animal.
“Thank God for the vaccine,” she said.
For wildlife officials, the frightening case also carries a straightforward warning.
Maryland DNR recommends keeping at least 25 yards away from medium-sized wild animals such as beavers and immediately seeking medical treatment after any bite or scratch from wildlife.
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