Officials say, on Friday, a fox attacked a man who was gardening. He was able to fend off the animal with a shovel.

Brunswick Animal Control Officer Heidi Nelson says it's not known why these incidents have taken place in a relatively small area.

“If you were to pin all the four occurrences on the map, it's about a two mile area, but a fox can travel anywhere up to 25-square miles for its territory, so we are putting the whole town on alert.”

Nelson urges anyone who encounters animals that are acting aggressively to back away and dial 911.

“Get into a safe environment if you can,” says Nelson. “If you can't, grab a lawn chair, a branch or anything you can to keep between you and the animal as you're retreating to safety.”

She says it's very important that dogs and cats are vaccinated against rabies.

In addition Nelson says residents and visitors should keep their cats inside, dogs on leashes and children supervised when outside, and they should not leave food supplies, trash and bird feeders outside.

Source:   http://mainepublic.org/post/brunswick-police-warn-widespread-rabies-epidemic#stream/0