Woman Strangles Rabid Raccoon - A 75-year-old woman from Virginia has strangled a rabid raccoon to death after the animal bit her leg while she was taking a walk in a garden during the weekend.

According to reports, the incident happened on Sunday afternoon when Cas Overton, a resident of Henrico County near Richmond, was watching birds while taking a walk through a off-the-map section of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

Overton says when the animal attacked her she tried to shake it off, but was unsuccessful. Then 'self preservation kicked in' and she strangled the animal for five minutes before realizing it was dead.

"You know self-preservation kicks in, and I guess a primitive part of my brain just went into operation and that was it," said Overton, who describes her self as an animal lover.

"As I move backward away from it, I grabbed its neck and I knew that I couldn't get away from it. If I ran, it would be faster than I would and would just tear me to pieces. So I threw it to the ground and I strangled it. With both hands."

 Overton, who worked as a Tai Chi instructor for 40 years, was transported to a local hospital after the incident. She received several preventive vaccines for rabies.

Reports indicate that tests confirmed that the raccoon carried rabies.

Despite being attacked by a raccoon, which she had to strangle, Overton, who says she has been walking in the garden for the past 30 years, returned to the garden the next day.