Girl swimming in Lake Lanier attacked by beaver, DNR says

HALL COUNT, Ga. — A young girl swimming at Lake Lanier was attacked by a beaver on Saturday, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The girl was swimming on the north end of the lake on private property when she was bitten in the leg, according to Access WDUN.

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As she was being attacked, the girl’s father intervened and beat the beaver to death, according to Hall County Animal Control.

The animal was taken to the state lab to be tested for rabies.

The child’s condition and identity have not been released.

Lt. Judd Smith from the DNR said it’s unclear why the beaver attacked.

“There was nothing to indicate that there were baby beavers in the vicinity that were being protected, or that the beaver was sick, or whether it was just an otherwise angry beaver,” Smith said.

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WSB-TV last reported a beaver attack at Lake Lanier in 2010 when one of the animals attacked a man fishing. Russ McTindal estimated that beaver was 35 or 40 pounds.

“He was attacking me,” McTindal said. “He was actually attacking me. I hadn’t provoked him or anything. Apparently when I went down, he pulled his head out, locked on to me.”

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Beavers were once virtually eliminated in Georgia, but the state conducted a restoration program in the 1940s. Beavers are now abundant across the state.

Beavers are the second-largest living rodents.

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