Woman Mauled by Otter While Cheering Friends at Marathon in Shocking Incident

What started as a normal day cheering on friends at a marathon turned into a terrifying and totally unexpected wildlife encounter.

Erin Hogston, a North Carolina woman, was standing along a trail in Cary on Sunday when she suddenly heard rustling in the bushes behind her. Thinking it might be something large—possibly even a bear—she turned and ran.

That’s when things took a painful turn.

The animal burst out of the shrubs and chased her down. As she tried to escape, Hogston fell—and the creature lunged, biting her ankle.

It wasn’t a bear.

It wasn’t even a beaver, as she first suspected.

It was an otter.

“Everyone was like, we thought they were cute,” Hogston said afterward. “I don’t see anything cute about them now.”

The bizarre attack left her shaken—and injured. She suffered bite wounds along with cuts and bruises from the fall.

Hogston was taken to a local hospital, where she spent hours being treated and had to receive six rabies shots. Even medical staff were stunned.

“They were like, ‘You got bit by what?’” she said, adding that the hospital had never seen a case like it before.

She’ll need additional treatments in the coming weeks.

Wildlife experts say attacks like this are extremely rare. Fewer than 60 otter attacks have been documented worldwide in well over a century, and the animals are generally not aggressive toward humans.

Still, officials say incidents can happen, especially if the animal is sick or feels threatened.

For Hogston, the experience has completely changed her perspective—and she’s now warning others to stay alert outdoors.

“You never know what’s out there,” she said.

And in this case, it was something no one saw coming.