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 Authorities in Henrico are confirming their first positive case of rabies for 2015. Animal protection responded Saturday after reports of a raccoon attacking a woman in the 1800 block of Lakeside Avenue, at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. 
 
 The raccoon came out of the woods and attacked the victim, scratching and biting her leg. The victim was able to fight off the raccoon, which later died and tested positive for rabies. 
 
 
 
 "I was looking at birds up in a tree and when I looked down, it was in front of me and it was extremely aggressive. Grabbed a hold of my pant leg and bit me at the same time," Cas Overton said. 
 
 
 
 It was at that moment when the former Tai Chi instructor quickly grabbed the rabid animal. 
 
 
 
 "I was able to get a hold of it by the neck and I had to throttle it to death, it was horrible," Overton said. 
 
 
 
 It was happened in a section of the garden that is completely off the map, where a woman was bitten by a rabid raccoon. Park administrators say that it is important that people remember to be cautious when they come across wild animals. 
 
 "The garden is an outdoor venue, so just as around our homes and parks anywhere that we might go that would be out of doors, it is always good to be alert to any wildlife that might be acting suspiciously," Beth Monroe with Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden said. 
 
 
 
 Signs are now posted in the visitors center letting people know about the incident. Staff is also being trained to alert people about wild-life in the Gardens. 
 
 
 
 Statistics from the Virginia Department of Health show that a total of 7 rabid animals were found in Henrico County last year. Two of those were raccoons. 
 
 
 
 As for Overton, she is getting post-exposure treatment which includes the rabies vaccine. She also warns others to be alert when walking in the wild. 
 
 
 
 "Don't be taken by surprise like I was," Overton said. 
 
 
 
 The woman was treated at the hospital for her injuries and was given a rabies vaccine.The section of the Botanical Garden where the attack happened is closed off. 
 
 
 
 Report abnormal wildlife behavior to Henrico Police by calling 501-5000. 
 
 
 
 Copyright 2015 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved
– In 2012, a troop of Boy Scouts stoned a rabid beaver to death. Those upstate New York boys have nothing on Cas Overton, who strangled an attacking raccoon to death with her bare hands on Saturday afternoon. It's worth noting the Henrico County, Va., woman is 75 years old, and the raccoon was confirmed yesterday to have rabies. The attack occurred at the Richmond-area Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, where the self-proclaimed "terrific animal lover" was bird-watching. Overton was surprised by the raccoon while studying birds in a tree; she believes it emerged from a bamboo thicket. After being unable to shake off the violent animal, which had "grabbed a hold of my pant leg and bit me at the same time," Overton literally took matters into her own hands. "As I moved backward away from it, I grabbed its neck and I knew that I couldn’t get away from it," she tells the Times-Dispatch. "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." Once the animal had stopped moving she made her way to find help, and was taken via ambulance to a hospital where she has started getting rabies shots. WWBT reports it's Henrico's first confirmed rabies case of the year; there were seven cases last year. (Meanwhile, a carpenter has lost his job because of a raccoon.)