Rabid beaver attack jolts quiet New Jersey lake
2026-05-08
Terror came from the water, not the woods. A beaver, later confirmed rabid by laboratory testing of brain tissue, lunged from Lake Henry in Mahwah and latched onto an 8-year-old boy who was fishing near the shoreline, an attack recorded on a bystander’s phone.
Public health risk, not viral video shock, is the real story here. Rabies, a neurotropic virus that invades the central nervous system, is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms appear, so officials moved quickly: the child received post-exposure prophylaxis, including rabies immune globulin and a vaccine series, while animal control officers tracked and killed the aggressive beaver for diagnostic testing.
Complacency around suburban wildlife now looks reckless. Health authorities in Mahwah urged residents to report any abnormal animal behavior, keep pets’ rabies vaccinations current in line with veterinary immunization schedules, and avoid feeding or approaching wildlife near lakes and streams, stressing that even typically shy species such as beavers can become highly aggressive when infected.
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