A 12-year-old boy is recovering after an attack by what is believed to be a fisher cat, according to Rehoboth police.The incident happened on Winthrop Street in Rehoboth at about 9 p.m. Monday.Watch video reportWes Brown, 12, said he was in his back yard playing football with a friend by the pool when the animal jumped on his lower leg.Brown said the animal looked like a family cat except it had pointed ears and it carried itself low to the ground."I started to go inside when it attacked me on the leg. I tried to hit it off with my hand and it got me in the hand," he said.Brown suffered bites and scratches on his leg and a bite on his hand. He was treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island.Brown is being given rabies shots as a precaution."It was scary. It was a vicious looking animal -- smaller than a fox with pointy ears," Brown's mom, Steph Brown, said. "We compared pictures and I would say it was definitely a fisher cat."Animal control put a trap in their yard in case it comes back.Fisher cats are medium-sized members of the weasel family and are most active at dawn and dusk. The solitary mammals are rarely seen by humans and are best known for their distinct screech.

A 12-year-old boy is recovering after an attack by what is believed to be a fisher cat, according to Rehoboth police.

The incident happened on Winthrop Street in Rehoboth at about 9 p.m. Monday.


Watch video report

Wes Brown, 12, said he was in his back yard playing football with a friend by the pool when the animal jumped on his lower leg.

Brown said the animal looked like a family cat except it had pointed ears and it carried itself low to the ground.

Jack Harper/WCVB

"I started to go inside when it attacked me on the leg. I tried to hit it off with my hand and it got me in the hand," he said.

Brown suffered bites and scratches on his leg and a bite on his hand. He was treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island.

Brown is being given rabies shots as a precaution.

"It was scary. It was a vicious looking animal -- smaller than a fox with pointy ears," Brown's mom, Steph Brown, said. "We compared pictures and I would say it was definitely a fisher cat."

Animal control put a trap in their yard in case it comes back.

Fisher cats are medium-sized members of the weasel family and are most active at dawn and dusk. The solitary mammals are rarely seen by humans and are best known for their distinct screech.