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'Heroic' mother comes to the rescue after raccoon attacks 5-year-old daughter, video shows

A mother came to the rescue of her 5-year-old daughter after the girl was attacked by a raccoon on their porch, and the entire incident was caught on surveillance video.

The footage was captured Friday by the home security camera of Logan Kelsey MacNamara of Ashford, Connecticut.

MacNamara's daughter, Rylee, stepped outside to wait for the bus to take her to school when footage shows a raccoon on the porch pounce and grab onto her leg. As her daughter screamed, MacNamara rushed out and was able to get the raccoon off her daughter.

MacNamara instructed her daughter to go back inside the house, yelling "it's a rabid raccoon" before throwing it across her front yard and getting back inside the house. The animal then wandered around the home.

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The footage was posted on MacNamara's Facebook page. MacNamara said her daughter had requested it be posted to "show everyone what the racoon did."

"We are headed to get checked out for rabies following this unprovoked racoon attack. I can’t tell you how proud I am of this Brave girl!!" MacNamara wrote.

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MacNamara told Storyful they both suffered scratches, and her daughter had a puncture wound, but they were doing OK. She added that Rylee's jeans may have helped prevent a more serious injury, and the two will be getting rabies vaccines in the coming weeks.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection praised MacNamara, saying she did a "great and heroic job."

"She protected her daughter by getting the raccoon off her and getting her inside, warned the neighbor, and, as we understand, reached out to authorities including the local animal control," the department said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Officials added it wasn't known if the animal had rabies, and although it is uncommon for raccoons to be out during the day, the animal's behavior can't automatically be blamed on illness.

"However, the fact that the animal attacked a person, seemingly unprovoked, is a strong sign that the animal isn’t well. We should also caution that an incident like is relatively uncommon," officials said.

The department advises people to avoid interacting with raccoons because they can lose their fear of people, and people should try to get away from one if approached. If a "problem racoon" is reported, a raccoon can't be relocated because it may carry rabies, the department said.

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video: Connecticut mother saves daughter from raccoon attack