A Warren County woman seeking to protect her mother from a rabid fox attacked the animal with an ax and then a shovel before the animal was finally subdued.

Blairstown police say that the fox attack happened April 13 at a home located on Golden Chain Road.

Police say that the woman’s mother went outside to feed her cats when the fox approached and attacked her. The mother threw "cat chow" at the animal as a way to get it to go away, but police say that it bit her twice. She ran back inside her house and the fox hid under the porch.

Police say that the daughter then came outside to see what had happened when the fox attacked once again. She threw an ax at the fox, but the fox just bit the ax and attacked her again. Police say that she then picked up a shovel and hit the fox in the head, “disabling it.”

She was able to flag down two men in a truck and one of the men held the fox down until it was dead.

Police say that in addition to biting the woman’s mother, the fox also killed one of the cats.

The mother was treated for the bites and given preventative treatment for rabies.

Lab tests confirmed that the fox was rabid.