Otters Attack Teens Swimming in Northern California Lake
It was the "scariest thing in my life."
— -- Two teens were allegedly attacked by a swarm of otters while enjoying a summer swim in California's Shasta Lake last weekend.
Chris Whitney, 13, told local ABC News affiliate KRCR-TV that three otters attacked him and his buddy Jacob Savage, 14, in the lake.
"They just kept getting at our legs and our feet," Chris said. "There was one that kept attacking us no matter what we did."
"I just remember looking back at it and seeing its teeth," he recalled. "Every time it would go under I knew it was about to attack and it was just so terrible, it's just the scariest thing in my life I've ever been through."
He added: "So we had to swim back about 70 yards, back to our camp, and they just kept getting at our legs and our feet."
The two were taken to the hospital and given the rabies vaccine.
Ryan Whitney, Chris's father, told KRCR-TV that he heard the boys yelling from his location on shore. "I just thought they were scared of the otters being next to them," he said. "I didn't know they were being bitten at the time."
"I was actually kind of laughing like, kind of like what the heck is going on," he added. "I've never heard of that happening before."