© Charles KennardA river otter
Following an encounter naturalists are calling beyond bizarre, Canada's top medical journal is
warning of otter attacks on humans after a Quebec woman received multiple deep puncture wounds in her legs from being bitten while swimming at a lakefront chalet.
The case โ if the vicious marine animal was indeed a
Lontra canadensis (North American river otter), and Elizabeth Elbourne is absolutely convinced it was โ joins only 44 reports of otter attacks published worldwide since 1875.
The alarming encounter occurred last August, after Elbourne told her daughter she was going for a "quick dip" in the lake at their rental cottage in the Laurentians.
Suddenly, while doing the front crawl, the woman felt something sharp hit her leg. "So I stopped, and saw this otter's head sticking of the water."
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