DELTONA, Fla. – Trappers are searching for a lone squirrel that attacked three people a senior living facility on Thursday afternoon.
"I was just enjoying my swing ride," Phyllis Thrush said.
The 89-year-old woman said one minute she was swinging, and the next, she was getting attacked.
"A squirrel came up on the arm of the chair on the swing, then he jumped up on my arm, then on my shoulder and then on the top of my head," Thrush said.
Thrush said she frantically tried shaking it off, but the rodent latched onto her as she went inside the exercise room at the Sterling Court Retirement Community.
"It's jumping on people and biting them and scratching them," a caller told 911.
News 6 learned the squirrel attacked two residents and a staff member.
"One lady has a bite on her forehead and another lady on her arm," Thrush said.
All were taken to urgent care and released.
"I have 11 incisions on this arm," Thrush said.
No one received rabies shots because the Volusia County Health Department said it wasn't necessary.
Sterling Court's corporate office told News 6 that in addition to setting out traps, signage will also be posted warning residents to be cautious of the squirrels.
When the squirrel is caught, officials plan to test it for rabies, which would require the animal to be euthanized.
Squirrels can contract rabies, but usually they wouldn't survive being bit by a rabid animal, a Volusia County Health Department official said.
Since 2002, 81 animals in Volusia County have been reported as rabid. The vast majority of those were raccoons with a total of 52 cases within the species. Next was 18 cats, five foxes, three bats, one bobcat, one dog and one otter.
Read News 6's original story on the squirrel attack here.