An Austrian woman, on vacation in Wisconsin, will take home some scars from her visit.
Our partners at WEAU in Eau Claire report 51-year-old Brigitte France was attacked and suffered multiple bites from two Otters as she swam.
France was swimming in Lake Owen south of Ashland when the otters suddenly appeared.
Feeling concerned, she says she swam to shore.
But just as she reached the shoreline one of the otters bit her right leg, while the other bit her left leg.
The woman suffered a total of eight or nine bites.
D.N.R. and wildlife officials say this behavior is very unusual.
They say the animals normally would only bite if provoked.
"People shouldn't go away from this being afraid of otters being afraid to go swimming, being afraid of any wild life, you know, you have to have a healthy respect for them knowing that they just want to do their own thing and we need to give them the space to do that," said Heidi Nelson, curator and the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth.
Doctors have started the woman on a series of rabies shots just in case the otters were diseased.
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