An Oro Valley woman was hospitalized after being bitten by a javelina Tuesday night while walking her dog.
This is the third javelina biting incident in the Tucson area since March, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Another Oro Valley resident bit by javelina while walking a dog. Third case in Tucson since March 2017 when another Oro Valley resident bitten. Also May 1 on Tucson's eastside. Don't walks dogs at night, about face & walk away if javelina seen. Javelina think dogs are predators! pic.twitter.com/HEIOOaiyiq
— AZ Game & Fish Dept (@azgfdTucson) January 10, 2018
The woman was knocked to the ground near E. Crown Ridge Dr. and E. Royal Ridge Dr. around 9:30 p.m. while she was trying to avoid two javelina that were attacking her dog.
She suffered a minor puncture wound near her left shoulder from one javelina and was treated at Oro Valley Hospital. The woman has since been released.
A different Oro Valley resident was attacked by a javelina while walking her dog on March 25, 2017, and a third person was injured the same way on the east side on May 1, 2017.
“Walking your dog at night is a recipe for a confrontation with javelina, so try to avoid doing so. If you see javelina while walking your dog, go in the opposite direction. Javelina can’t tell the difference between a dog and a coyote, which prey on javelina, so javelina react instinctively to dogs,” said Regional Supervisor Raul Vega of Game and Fish in Tucson in a press release.
