Londonderry, NH:

A mother kicked, chased and eventually pinned down a rabid fox that bit her 8-year-old daughter while the girl was on a swing set. Pamela Berube, 39, of Hudson, had taken her eldest daughter to a flute lesson at a private home in Londonderry on Thursday.

Her other two children, 8-year-old Deena and 10-year-old Joshua, were playing in the flute teacher's back yard when Berube heard a scream - "and it was not a regular scream," she said.

She ran outside to discover a fox chasing the children around the yard. Deena fell, and her mother kicked the fox away from her.

"Apparently not hard enough, because he kept going after Deena," said the flute instructor, Cindy Winsor, who also ran to help.

Winsor grabbed a plastic baseball bat and hit the fox with it, but the blow didn't stop him. Berube chased the fox until it bit her arm. Then she grabbed it by the neck and pinned it to the ground for 10 minutes, until police arrived and shot it.

I have to give credit to her for keeping a rabid fox pinned to the ground for 10 minutes.  That must have been terrifying.

But what if this had been a crazed human intent on murder?  What might have happened in those 10 minutes if she had tried to stop him/her with a plastic bat?

The interesting thing in this bit of San Antonio self defense news is what they don't mention.  Fearless Store Clerk Shoots Out Thief’s Windows:

Police say a robber came into the store and acted as if he had a gun. Once he got cash, he hopped into a waiting pick-up truck. The clerk ran outside and shot at the truck as it drove away.

What isn't mentioned is if there were any consequences for the store clerk.  After the robbery was "finished," he followed the thugs outside and shot at their vehicle as they were fleeing.  And yet, no word on if the clerk got in trouble with "authorities."

Don't get me wrong.  I have no problem with the store clerk shooting at them as they flee.  But in some parts of the country, the clerk would be in serious trouble.  Never mind that that store is his livelihood, never mind that he probably spends most of his day watching so-called "customers" like a hawk to prevent petty thefts, never mind that his store will be tagged if he turns his lights off for more than 5 minutes.  Yes, this is self defense, because that store is how he supports himself and his family and every punk who gets away is a punk who will come back, and a punk who will tell all his fellow punks that the store is an easy mark.

In some places people would already be plastering their panties because he shot at them as they ran away.

Hard luck.  You don't want to get shot, don't rob convenience stores.  In San Antonio, anyway.

Via Civilian Gun Self Defense Blog.

I first blogged about this here.  In that post, I said that I hoped the justice system nailed him to the wall, if the story happened as reported.  Apparently, it did not.

Mallot was found to have used justifiable lethal self defense.  New article at Click2Houston.com.  (Via Xavier).  Mallot did not testify himself, but several witnesses did.

I'm glad for Mr. Mallot, and glad my initial reaction turned out to be incorrect.