Two people were attacked by a beaver in the Quinebaug River near the Pomfret-Killingly town line, prompting Connecticut officials to advise boaters and swimmers to stay out of area water.

On Monday, a 20-year-old Danielson man and a 19-year-old woman were bitten by a beaver just before 7 p.m. in the river near Route 101, Environmental Conservation Police said.

In a Facebook post, the 19-year-old woman shared her story, saying she was swimming in the river "when something clamped down on my ribcage. I shoved my hand in its mouth to get it to release me and tore the ligament in my thumb."

The post goes on to say that her 20-year-old boyfriend "jumped in and unclamped (the beaver's jaw) ... and pushed me away."

"While he was swimming away, it grabbed his leg and he was bit," she wrote.

The man and woman received stitches at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, officials said.

"The female had some gashes on her side that were pretty deep," Dayville Fire Chief Kevin Ide said.

EnCon police said Tuesday during their search for the animal, they failed to capture a beaver seen demonstrating "aggressive behavior" on the bridge near Route 101.

There have been occasional cases of healthy beavers being contentious toward humans and few cases of beavers being infected by rabies, according to DEEP.

It was unclear if the beaver at Quinebaug River had rabies or not.

EnCon Police said the beaver did not appear to be making a home in the immediate area where the attack took place, but they did see beavers inhabiting a den in the bank of the river just south of the location.