Raccoon attacks girl, 6, as she plays with friends The Associated Press 6/10/02 5:40 PM GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A raccoon attacked a 6-year-old girl in front of several friends, biting her 10 times after jumping on her back. Samantha Ortiz of Georgetown Township, which is near Jenison in eastern Ottawa County, was walking on a bicycle trail with five friends about 6:30 p.m. Friday when she looked back and saw the raccoon. She said she moved to the side of the trail to let the animal pass, but it jumped on her back and started biting. "I put my hand down and it was biting me. It was growling like a dog and biting me all over," Samantha told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Monday. "Maybe he smelled chicken 'cause I didn't wash my hands after I ate." Samantha said she was scared because her friends ran away when the raccoon attacked. "I didn't know if it was going to kill me," she said. When the animal tried to bite her toes, the girl said she put one of her friend's bikes on top of the raccoon and ran home. Her mother, Dee Cardero, said she was hysterical when she heard Samantha screaming. "I ran and opened the front door and saw blood all over her," Cardero said. Samantha had bites on her hands, arms and legs. She was treated at Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital, where she received rabies shots in the area of each bite. The series of shots will continue for a month, her parents said.
