Otter bites Minnesota triathlete 25 times - WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

ANOKA, Minn. (AP) -- A triathlete had to get rabies shots after she was attacked by an otter in a northern Minnesota lake.

33-year-old Leah Prudhomme of Anoka was doing a training swim in Island Lake, north of Duluth, Wednesday evening. She felt something bite her ankle to the bone and spotted the otter. She sustained 25 bites -- some more than 2 inches deep -- before her father rescued her in a boat about seven minutes later.

The attack baffles experts who surmise the otter had rabies or was a mother protecting its young.

Prudhomme says she's thankful she wore her wet suit, which was shredded in the attack but likely saved her from more extensive injuries. She still plans to compete in a triathlon on the same lake next Sunday.