Raccoon Pack Attacks Elderly Woman

Critters maul 74-year-old Lakeland senior

Pythons may be the most feared and despised creatures in Florida these days, but an elderly woman in Lakeland discovered raccoons can be just as dangerous as any snake.

Gretchen Whitted, 74, was attacked and hospitalized after she tried to shoo a family of the striped-tailed critters from her yard.

The five raccoons surrounded the old woman and mauled her from head to toes.

"We're not talking about a lot of little bites here," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She was filleted."

Whitted was treated for extensive cuts and given rabies shots, though officials doubted they were infected.

Officials have attempted to catch the raccoons in traps, and firefighters even flooded nearby drains to try to flush them out of hiding.

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