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Post by Graveyardbride on Jul 13, 2023 15:13:10 GMT -5
Rabid Beaver Attacks Girl Swimming in Haunted Georgia LakeA girl swimming at the northern end of Lake Lanier (above) on Saturday, July 8, was attacked by a rabid beaver. The manmade lake, which covers in excess of 37,000 acres, is located near Gainesville, Georgia.
The girl’s family owns property on the lake and when her father saw what was happening, he managed to beat the animal to death. During the attack, the beaver, which was very large in size, sank its teeth into the girl’s leg. Wildlife Resources Supervisor Don McGowan later told reporters the beaver in question weighed 50 to 55 pounds and was the biggest he’d ever seen.
Beavers aren’t aggressive and attack humans only if cornered or when protecting their young. The father contacted the authorities and the Georgia Public Health Lab in Decatur determined the animal was rabid.
Following the attack, Hall County authorities placed a warning sign concerning rabid animals near the Sardis Creek Boat Ramp.
Rabies turn timid animals that would normally avoid humans aggressive. “Once that rabies virus gets into the brain of the animal – in this case, a beaver – they just act crazy,” McGowan said.
The lake, named for Georgia poet Sydney Lanier, was created in the 1950s, and one of the valley communities flooded contained a cemetery. For this reason alone, many consider the body of water cursed. According to another legend, the spirit of a woman in a flowing blue dress haunts the lake. The lady in question is 37-year-old Susie Smallwood Roberts (above left), who, on the night of April 16, 1958, ran off the Dawsonville Highway Bridge across Lake Lanier. Her friend, Delia May Parker Young (right), 23, was in the passenger seat of the blue Ford sedan, and the two women were on their home from a dance in Dawsonville. Mrs. Roberts was wearing a blue dress. About a year later, a fisherman found the remains of a female body, but both hands were gone and she couldn’t be identified, so no one knew whether Susie was recovered and buried, or if her remains were still in the lake, which is as much as 160-feet-deep in some locations. In November 1990, a car with 1958 license plates was discovered by a crew building a bridge at Lake Lanier, and a female skeleton, believed to be that of Mrs. Roberts, was still inside the vehicle.
It also is rumored that mysterious hands reach out for swimmers from the dark depths, and some who have come close to drowning in Lake Lanier claim to have heard what sounded like angry voices. It has been suggested the voices are the spirits of those who lie in graves at the bottom of the lake.
While many in positions of authority scoff at such stories, it is somewhat odd that since 1994, more than 200 individuals have drowned in Lake Lanier, or died in boating and other accidents on the lake. In excess of 700 have died since the lake was created. The bodies of at least 27 of those who drowned in Lake Lanier have never been recovered.
Other rabid animal attacks. There have been recent attacks by rabid wildlife in other parts of the country as well. In Connecticut, a camp counselor sleeping in a hammock was attacked by a rabid bobcat during the wee hours of June 30. Two other men, also counselors, came to the victim’s aid and managed to kill the animal. According to the public health laboratory, it tested positive for rabies.
Bobcats normally avoid humans and the majority of attacks involving humans are provoked by dogs. “When unprovoked attacks do occur,” a spokesperson for the Deep River Fire Department said, “they are generally disease- or illness-related. While rabies is not as common in bobcats as some other mammal species, they can contract the virus.”
A third attack by a rabid animal took place July 5 in Monroe, North Carolina, when a 70-year-old Kathy Hazelwood opened her front door and a fox sprang at her and began biting her legs. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the animal and flung it out the door, but it still managed to bite her legs and ankles a total of 12 times. “I just reached down and I grabbed him on each side of the neck and took my elbow and opened up the door and threw him out,” she explained. “I don’t know what gave me the energy to do that but I did. I picked him up and slung him out the door.”
Mrs. Hazelwood, like the other victims, had to be treated for rabies. “The series that I got at the hospital – the ones that he had to put around the wounds – he told me they would be very painful, and they were,” she said.Sources: Lawrence Richard, Fox News, July 13, 2023; Stephen Sorass, Fox News, July 5, 2023; WTVD, July 6, 2023, and Faith Karimi, CNN, October 31, 2020.
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Post by serena on Jul 13, 2023 18:27:24 GMT -5
The son of some people I know drowned in Lake Lanier. He fell while water skiing and the people he was with, who were his cousins, said that he was swimming back to the boat and just suddenly went under. Two of them jumped in and tried to find him but they said that he must have gone straight to the bottom. He was a good swimmer and they thought he must have hit the water hard when he fell and it knocked the breath out of him, but if that had happened, why didn't he go under when he fell instead of while he was swimming to the boat? A lot of people drown in that lake. Maybe it is cursed.
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Post by steve on Jul 13, 2023 20:27:26 GMT -5
The son of some people I know drowned in Lake Lanier. He fell while water skiing and the people he was with, who were his cousins, said that he was swimming back to the boat and just suddenly went under. Two of them jumped in and tried to find him but they said that he must have gone straight to the bottom. He was a good swimmer and they thought he must have hit the water hard when he fell and it knocked the breath out of him, but if that had happened, why didn't he go under when he fell instead of while he was swimming to the boat? A lot of people drown in that lake. Maybe it is cursed. They must have done an autopsy. Did it show any abnormalities that could explain what happened? |
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Post by serena on Jul 13, 2023 22:04:59 GMT -5
They must have done an autopsy. Did it show any abnormalities that could explain what happened? |
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Post by kitty on Jul 14, 2023 5:42:33 GMT -5
It seems like there are more deaths at Lake Lanier than at other big lakes. In recent years, in addition to numerous drownings, a kid was hit and killed by a jet ski and there are a lot of boating accidents.
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Post by LostLenore on Jul 14, 2023 7:24:35 GMT -5
Thank you for the information about the women who ran off the bridge. I thought it was just an urban legend.
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Post by chris on Jul 14, 2023 9:51:01 GMT -5
It was several days before he was found and by that time, the body was too decomposed. Don't bodies rise unless the water is extremely cold, like it is in Lake Superior? Would the bottom of a lake in Georgia be that cold? |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Jul 15, 2023 4:36:40 GMT -5
Don't bodies rise unless the water is extremely cold, like it is in Lake Superior? Would the bottom of a lake in Georgia be that cold? |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Aug 5, 2023 6:16:55 GMT -5
Lake Lanier Claims 3 More VictimsOn Thursday, July 27, near Lanier Beach South Road, 24-year-old Thomas Shepard “Shep” Milner jumped into Lake Lanier, one of the deadliest bodies of water in the U.S. rumored to be both cursed and haunted. It was immediately apparent to onlookers he was experiencing some sort of difficulty and a family friend attempted to pull the young man from the water using a ladder. When this didn’t work, neighbors launched a boat and one man jumped in to rescue Milner. However, the rescuer cried out that he was feeling a burning sensation and realized he was being electrically shocked from an unknown source. Unable to rescue Milner, he swan to shore and switched off an electrical power box on the dock and this allowed him to pull Milner from the water.
Although Milner’s uncle administered CPR, he was unable to revive his nephew and first responders transported the stricken swimmer to Northside Forsyth Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Now, Martha Milner, the deceased’s mother, is begging dock owners to conduct safety checks. “Our dock was less than three years old and was outfitted with electricity by a licensed electrician,” she said. “I would encourage dock owners to check their electricity and repair promptly.”
Two others drowned in Lake Lanier over the weekend. On Saturday (July 29), 27-year-old Leonardo Martinez, a boat mechanic, vanished in the while swimming at Van Pugh Park. His body was located and pulled from the water approximately 100 feet from shore on Thursday (August 3).
Also on Saturday, Tracey Stewart, 61, was swimming near East Bank Park when she, too, disappeared. Her corpse was located with the help of sonar technology in 46 feet of water.Sources: Thomas Kika, Newsweek, July 30, 2023; WSB, July 31, 2023, and Fox News, August 5, 2023.
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Post by serena on Aug 5, 2023 12:16:25 GMT -5
That's scary! I'm sure most everyone will consider this a dumb question, but how much of the lake would be effected if there was a live wire in it from someone's dock?
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Post by Graveyardbride on Aug 5, 2023 15:45:28 GMT -5
That's scary! I'm sure most everyone will consider this a dumb question, but how much of the lake would be effected if there was a live wire in it from someone's dock? |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Aug 29, 2023 8:07:38 GMT -5
Lake Lanier Claims 7th Victim this Year
Around 3 p.m., Saturday, August 26, Edgar Steven Cruz-Martinez, 23, of Atlanta, went under while swimming in Lake Lanier and never resurfaced. His death is the 7th in the “haunted lake” this year. In excess of 700 have died since the lake was created in the 1950s.
Game wardens, using a boat-mounted sonar, pulled the body from approximately 10 feet of water.
Source: Joyce Lupani and Kim Leoffler, WAGA, August 27/28, 2023.
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Post by serena on Aug 29, 2023 23:27:00 GMT -5
Around 3 p.m., Saturday, August 26, Edgar Steven Cruz-Martinez, 23, of Atlanta, went under while swimming in Lake Lanier and never resurfaced. |
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Post by kitty on Aug 30, 2023 7:04:40 GMT -5
I've never understood how someone swimming just suddenly sinks unless they have a heart attack or something, and this man was only 23, so I doubt that he had a heart attack. |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Sept 11, 2023 2:51:19 GMT -5
Lake Lanier Claims 8th and 9th Victims in 2023Lake Lanier has claimed its 9th victim for the year 2023. On the night of September 2, 23-year-old Gavrie Alexander Whitlock of Snellville slipped while running on a wet dock and fell into the water.
The 7th victim, Brayan Tarasona, 22, was swimming with two others near Van Pugh Park off Gaines Ferry Road around 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 21, when he went under. He was pulled from the water in critical condition and died shortly thereafter at the hospital.
According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, in excess of 200 people died in and at Lake Lanier between 1994 and 2022. Since its creation in the 1950s, the lake has claimed more than 700 lives. Eight drownings occurred in 2018 and eight more in 2019. In 2020, there were seven drownings and six in 2022. During the same four-year period, there were an additional 48 deaths listed as boating fatalities.
Rumored to be both haunted and cursed, when the lake was created, more than 1,000 people were displaced, and 15 business establishments, 20 graveyards and six churches had to be moved. The entire town Oscarville now lies beneath the water.
However, the lake is visited by between 7 and 11 million individuals each year, and there are bound to be mishaps. Additionally, the waters are deep, dark and murky, making it difficult to locate those who go under. Also, authorities are quick to cite the fact that people – including children – aren’t wearing life jackets while boating.
In July, fashion designer Tameka Foster created an online petition imploring officials to “drain, clean, and restore” Lake Sidney Lanier to allow for safety improvements and the removal of hazardous debris and other obstructions. Thus far, she has collected approximately 2,500 signatures – nowhere close to enough for such a gigantic and clostly undertaking. Kile Glover, her 11-year-old son, died on the lake in July 2012 when he was struck by a jet ski while floating on an inner-tube.
Sources: Joyce Lupiani, WAGA, September 4, 2023; WXIA, August 22, 2023, and The Associated Press, July 13, 2023.
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