New Hampshire man recounts terrifying encounter with mysterious animal terrorizing locals: ‘Dude, let go’

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Silverstein, A. (2026, September 6). New Hampshire man recounts terrifying encounter with mysterious animal terrorizing locals: ‘Dude, let go’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/06/us-news/new-hampshire-man-recounts-terrifying-encounter-with-mysterious-animal-terrorizing-locals/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-06 · by Adam Silverstein

Quick Summary

Zack Howard, a man from Enfield, New Hampshire, was attacked by a mysterious animal in the parking lot of FitKids ChildCare near Lebanon on Sunday. The animal, described as small and gray with an orange underbelly, grabbed Howard's bag before biting his foot and leg. According to surveillance footage, Howard yelled at the creature to let go and eventually had to kick it off, prompting him to undergo multiple rounds of rabies shots. New Hampshire Fish and Game officials have not confirmed what type of animal is responsible for the attacks, but suspect it may be a red or gray fox that is acting unusually due to illness.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-06, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Zack Howard, a man from Enfield, NH, was attacked by an unknown animal while unloading his U-Haul truck at the FitKids ChildCare parking lot in Lebanon. The creature, described as small and gray with an orange underbelly, grabbed Howard's bag before biting his foot and leg. In a desperate attempt to free himself, Howard kicked the animal away, puncturing his running shoe but avoiding drawing blood. Despite undergoing multiple rounds of rabies shots, Howard says he hurt more from the vaccine than from the bite itself. The incident was caught on surveillance camera, which also shows Howard's girlfriend running out of her office as the animal flees. The attack marks one of three in the same area over a two-day period.

Written for “Mysterious Animal Sighting Incident” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mysterious Animal Sighting Incident
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 12769 article(s) · 33 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 33 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Adam Silverstein
30 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The actress, who played Kimberly Hart on “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” from 1993 to 1995, shared several photos documenting the ordeal, including a shot from inside the aircraft and an image showing the plane’s wing striking the fence.
🔮 Her advice for would-be airport sleepers is to pack light and bring familiar bedtime essentials.
🔮 Melissa Gilbert cryptically shared a quote from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” as she seemingly celebrated the dismissal of her husband Timothy Busfield’s child sexual abuse indictment.
🔮 “For the Mayors and administrators of the Amalfi Coast, they like this mess; otherwise, they would have already issued orders to civilize this mass tourism,” said local resident Antonio Attianese.
🔮 Six Flags said the park would reopen Friday, but Goliath would remain “temporarily closed,” a park spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
🔮 “I could lose everything because of someone’s careless act.
🔮 “He may not have gotten the job, but he definitely stole our hearts,” the department added.
🔮 “I was like, ‘There’s no way that this would happen to me right now,’” Rensvold added.
🔮 Her bravery reverberates across the country and the crimes against her will not go unpunished.”
🔮 We will find a way through this together,” Slade added.
Also by Adam Silverstein
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 30 articles by Adam Silverstein →

Topics

Fish and Game Lebanon Police Department New Hampshire News 9 WMUR

Subjects

Howard PERSON · 9× Fish and Game ORG · 2× Lebanon Police Department ORG · 2× New Hampshire GPE · 2× News 9 ORG · 2× WMUR ORG · 2× Zack Howard PERSON · 2× Enfield GPE · 1× FitKids ChildCare ORG · 1× U-Haul ORG · 1×

Narrative

No additional attacks have been reported. “We’ve been here fairly regularly throughout the week, trying to hopefully run into the creature and see if we can figure out what it is,” Lt. James Kneeland told News 9.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-06
🔮 “And if those security cameras had audio, you would hear me actually yell at it.

Claims (25 extracted, 2 hedged)

Zack Howard, of Enfield, NH, had just stepped out of his U-Haul truck Sunday in the FitKids ChildCare parking lot near Centerra Parkway in Lebanon when the strange, aggressive animal charged at him. asserted
animal → step → him
“The way just it looked with the tail and kind of that orange underbelly, it was 100% a fox in my mind,” Howard told News 9. asserted
Howard → look → News
Surveillance footage captured the small, gray creature — believed to be behind three attacks in the same area over two days — grabbing Howard’s bag before it returned to bite his foot and leg. asserted
it → capture → foot
“I’m trying to shake it off,” Howard recalled. asserted
Howard → try → it
“And if those security cameras had audio, you would hear me actually yell at it. asserted
me → have → it
I said, ‘Dude, let go. asserted
I → say → ?
I don’t want to kick you,’ and it didn’t let go, so I just had to kick it off.” asserted
I → want → it
The bite did not draw blood but punctured Howard’s running shoe. asserted
bite → draw → shoe
He has since undergone multiple rounds of rabies shots after the terrifying encounter. asserted
He → undergo → encounter
“If anything, the six shots in the foot hurt worse than anything the fox caused,” Howard said. asserted
Howard → hurt → anything
Howard’s girlfriend was filmed running out of her office as the animal darted away in surveillance video. asserted
animal → film → video
Howard said he couldn’t get back into his truck and had to retaliate. asserted
he → say → truck
“If there’s no other option, fight is sometimes a better choice than flight in an attack,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → attack
New Hampshire Fish and Game officials have not confirmed what type of animal is responsible for the attacks. asserted
type → confirm → attacks
Early reports suggested a fox or fisher cat. uncertain
reports → suggest → fox
No additional attacks have been reported. “We’ve been here fairly regularly throughout the week, trying to hopefully run into the creature and see if we can figure out what it is,” Lt. James Kneeland told News 9. asserted
Kneeland → report → creature
Red and gray foxes are common in western New Hampshire, but Fish and Game officials said the animal’s behavior is unusual and could indicate illness. uncertain
behavior → say → illness
“That (behavior) wouldn’t be normal for a healthy wild animal,” Kneeland said. asserted
Kneeland → say → animal
The Lebanon Police Department earlier this week urged residents, employees and visitors to stay away from any wild animal acting aggressively or unusually. asserted
Department → urge → animal
“Do not approach, attempt to capture, feed, or otherwise interact with the animal,” police said. asserted
police → approach → animal
Police also warned of potential rabies exposure, urging anyone bitten or scratched by a wild animal to thoroughly wash the area with soap and water and seek immediate medical care. asserted
Police → warn → care
New Hampshire man Zack Howard, who clashed with a mystery animal in a parking lot, believes the creature is a fox. asserted
creature → clash → lot
The unidentified creature grabbed Howard’s bag before returning to bite his foot and leg, puncturing his shoe. asserted
creature → grab → shoe
Howard, pictured describing the scene, has undergone multiple rabies shots, with more to come in the coming weeks. asserted
Howard → picture → weeks
Officials still have not been able to identify the small, gray animal and have urged residents to stay alert. asserted
Officials → identify → residents
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