Five days after a 10-year-old girl was attacked at Seneca Creek State Park, the beaver remains at large, parts of the park remain closed, and state wildlife officials have now corrected a key detail about what happened on Thursday, Aug. 13.
The girl was not canoeing when she was attacked, as initially reported.
According to an updated account released Tuesday, Aug. 18, by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the girl was attending summer camp and was swimming and wading with an organized group and other members of the public at a popular swimming hole near Berryville Road and the Potomac River.
At around 3:30 p.m., the beaver attacked.
Camp counselors jumped in, removed the animal from the girl, and it escaped back into the water.
The 10-year-old suffered three lacerations to her upper leg and was taken by family members to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda for treatment.
The confusion came from another encounter with a beaver in the same area.
DNR said a separate group that was canoeing reported a beaver attempting to charge one of their boats.
Nobody was injured in that incident.
State officials initially believed the girl who was bitten had been with the canoeing group, but subsequent witness interviews established that the encounters were separate.
Meanwhile, wildlife teams are still trying to find and remove the beaver involved in the attack.
The area around the swimming hole, including approximately a mile of trail and river access points, remains closed until further notice.
Access to the adjacent parking lot and another lot on Route 28 is also restricted, and signs have been posted warning visitors to stay away.
Other portions of Seneca Creek State Park, including the Lake Area off Clopper Road in Gaithersburg, remain open.
The attack was the third involving a beaver at a Maryland state park in less than three weeks.
DNR continues to say the Seneca Creek incident is not considered connected to two previous attacks at Cunningham Falls State Park, citing the distance between the parks as well as beavers' home range and social behavior.
Health department data also shows no indication of a rabies outbreak in either Montgomery or Frederick counties, according to the agency.
For now, though, the beaver at the center of Maryland's latest attack still hasn't been found.
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