Successor Crystal Finn has revealed that she was attacked by otters during a river swim and had to be treated in hospital.
The star, who played Lauren Pawson on the America Decides Season 4 episode of Succession, described the terrifying moment when she was bitten on the backside and legs while swimming in the Feather River near Plumas National Forest in Northern California.
Talking to the San Francisco ChronicleFinn said, “I felt something on my back and on my leg,” she explained.
“I started looking around and screaming and (the otters) popped up right in front of me. Then they dove down and started coming at me again.’
“I could see the bites on my legs and knew I had been bitten on the butt — that was the worst, but I couldn’t see it. The bites really hurt.
Horrible: Follow-up actress Crystal Finn has revealed she was attacked by otters during a river swim and had to be treated in hospital (pictured 2020)
Terror: The star, who played Lauren Pawson on the America Decides season 4 episode of Succession, described the terrifying moment when she was bitten on her back and legs while swimming in the Feather River (Otter stock photo)
The star believes the attack may have been a mother protecting her children. She was treated for injuries at Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, California,
The actress said she was aware of other otter attacks in the area and expressed her relief that she had not taken her young daughter on the outing.
She said, “It would have been much worse.”
Last month, a Montana woman tubing with friends in a river survived an otter attack that left her with part of her ear and said she feared she wouldn’t survive.
Jen Royce was celebrating her birthday on the Jefferson River in Bozeman when she and her friends were devastated by an angry otter that stalked them.
“I didn’t even have a chance to get the words ‘there’s an otter chasing you’ out of me before he attacked her,” Royce, 37, wrote in a Facebook post describing the event.
The attack lasted about five minutes, according to the woman’s post, which shared photos of her face, partially torn earlobe, and bruised and abraded arms and legs.
“Without ANY exaggeration, God’s honest truth, I didn’t think I could make it out of that river,” Royce wrote, “I had no idea if my friends would make it. But by the grace of God we did.’
She said: ‘I could see the bites on my legs and knew I had been bitten in the butt – that was the worst, but I couldn’t see it. The bites really hurt’ (photo 2022)
Royce said the attack was horrific and they were unable to fight back due to the chaos of the situation and the depth of the water they were in.
‘We were powerless. I tried to kick it off, but I would just get attacked somewhere else. I tried to stop him at one point by grabbing his arm to keep him away as I tried to swim closer to shore,” Royce wrote.
The group was in the middle of the water near the Three Forks and the Lewis and Clark Caverns when the attack began just before dark.
Attacks like the one on the Montana mother-of-three and her friends are incredibly rare, according to biologists.
Since 1875, there have been fewer than 60 known or reported cases of otter attacks resulting in injury or death worldwide.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is now alerting visitors to the potential dangers.
“While otter attacks are rare, otters can protect themselves and their young, especially at close range,” Montana FWP said.
Scary: There have been fewer than 60 known or reported cases of otter attacks worldwide since 1875 resulting in injuries or fatalities – pictured is a sea otter responsible for attacks along the Santa Cruz coastline in July 2023
ZooMontana executive director Jeff Ewelt reiterated Montana FWP’s statement.
“In the wild, they are quite territorial animals, especially around their young and especially when resources are scarce,” Ewelt said.
He said that while the situation is rare, anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation should be prepared to fight back.
“Fighting back is the best option,” Ewelt said.
“Because they’re not going to give up on you, especially if you’re in the water, they’re going to try to remove the threat,” the executive director continued.