Cunningham Falls State Park fully reopens after monitoring finds ‘no evidence of rabid beavers’

After two rabid beaver attacks this summer led to a nearly monthlong closure, Cunningham Falls State Park fully reopened on Monday.

Swimming at Hunting Creek Lake, a popular day-use area of the park, had been closed since a beaver bit a 13-year-old swimmer on July 26. More areas were closed 10 days later, following an Aug. 5 attack on a 19-year-old fisherman.

As the lake in Frederick County sat barricaded, Department of Natural Resources staff searched the area for signs of additional beavers. They canvassed the land for freshly gnawed branches and repeatedly took a boat around the 45-acre lake at dusk, scouring for beavers using a thermal imaging camera. They set traps, used trail cameras, and consulted with a veterinarian.

“Extensive monitoring found no evidence of rabid beavers,” a press release stated.

The two beavers that attacked people at Cunningham Falls, likely a mated pair, were both captured, euthanized and then tested positive for rabies.

About a week after the second attack, a 10-year-old girl swimming at Seneca Creek State Park in Montgomery County felt a tug and saw a “furry object,” which turned out to be a beaver that had bitten her three times.

A dead beaver was subsequently found nearby and tested positive for rabies. Portions of Seneca Creek park remain closed.

“Officials continue to investigate the incident, and are still monitoring the area for any signs of beavers,” the release stated.

Seneca Creek is about 35 miles from Cunningham Falls, and state officials called the attack “unrelated” to the prior two.

Rabies is not unheard of in the eastern United States, but it typically infects other animals, such as raccoons. It is seldom found in beavers. And beavers rarely attack.

Before this year’s three incidents, the most recent beaver attack in Maryland was in 2021.

Rabies is almost always fatal at the onset of symptoms, but few Americans die annually from the disease because treatment is effective. Those exposed to rabies generally receive a series of vaccine shots.