A hapless 40-year-old Belarussian was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the leg that he said was inflicted by a fox he was hunting in Belarus, Interfax reported Wednesday, citing a local law enforcement source.
The man said he wounded the fox with a shot by a double-barrel gun and tried to finish off the animal with a blow by the gun’s butt. But the fox, which attempted to fight back, hit the trigger with a paw, causing the gun to fire.
Police were checking other versions, including a conflict with another hunter and a suicide attempt, but were inclined to believe the man’s story, the source said.
The fox, which appeared to have had avoided a serious wound, escaped. Foxes of its kind are not a protected species in Belarus because they transmit rabies, the report said.
(MT)