Fox could have 'ripped baby to pieces' in attack at family's home

A mother has said her seven-month-old baby girl could have been "ripped to pieces" by a fox that sneaked into a family home.

Little Raeya Wyatt was bitten on her foot and hand as she played in her bouncer after the animal sneaked in through a back door which was on the latch.

Her mother Leanne Boundy, 27, said Raeya could have been "ripped to pieces" if the attack had lasted any longer.

The Plymouth mother-of-three said: "It lasted 30 seconds but in another minute it could have been a lot worse and ripped her to pieces.

"You don't expect a fox to behave in that way.

"I just thought it was an older fox coming to feed its babies and did not think anything of it, but it kept coming back to our back garden.

"No one saw the attack, my dad came in to shut the door and turned around and the fox was in the living room.

"The door was just on the latch, Raeya has bite marks on her hand and on her foot, they are puncture wounds."

Raeya was given a tetanus jab and antibiotics in hospital before being released on Tuesday evening following the attack earlier in the day.

Her mother said the baby was "still shaken up", telling the Daily Mirror: "If an animal goes near her now she is scared and will cry."

It's not the first time a fox has attacked a child.

In 2013, a baby boy was attacked in his London home and one of his fingers had to be re-attached by surgeons.

The RSPCA has previously said fox attacks are "extremely unusual".

It said: "Foxes will come closer to a house if there are food sources.

"Then they can become quite bold, but they usually do back off and run away when there's people around."