One of the three women who was brutally attacked by a river otter<\/a> in Montana last week has shared graphic photographs of her injuries along with her account of the attack on Facebook<\/a>. In a detailed post on Aug. 4, Jen Royce tells the story of how she and two friends were attacked by the wild otter while inner tubing on the Jefferson River, how they were rescued, and how she\u2019s recovering from the experience. Royce\u2019s story can also be found on the GoFundMe page<\/a>, which was created to cover the women\u2019s medical expenses from their injuries.<\/p>\n Royce also took the opportunity to set the record straight, since she says that many social media users have blamed her and the other two victims for provoking the Aug. 3 attack. She and her friends were in the middle of a wide stretch of river at the time, and that they were not trying to get close to the otters. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even know the otter\/otters were there until we were attacked,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how many otters were involved. Royce writes further down in her post that \u201cthe otters attacked us\u201d but then repeatedly refers to the attacking otter as \u201cit.\u201d Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks clarified in a press release<\/a> that multiple otters were observed, but that only one attacked the group. Regardless, Royce describes the one otter that attacked her as \u201cvicious and relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt bit my face in several places, both of my ears, my arms, my hands, my legs, my thighs, and my ankle,\u201d Royce writes. \u201cMy friends were bit on the hands and on their bottoms.\u201d<\/p>\n She says they all felt \u201chelpless\u201d treading water in the middle of the river. All their tubes had been popped, and she writes that every time she kicked the otter away, it would attack her somewhere else. By the time Royce swam to shore, the three women had gotten separated.<\/p>\n \u201cI was on the south side of the river and had crawled up the hill, one friend was out on the north side by the railroad tracks, and my other dear friend was stuck on a rock still in the river, not able to get out since we didn\u2019t know where the otter\/otters went.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the women was able to call 911, and they were rescued by first responders roughly an hour later. While Royce waited, she thought there was a real chance she might never get off the river.<\/p>\n
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