My toddler got bitten in the face by a groundhog today

I feel absolutely awful. I have a 2.5 YO and a 1 YO, we really haven’t gone and done too many fun things with just us three (stay at home mom) because it still makes me nervous to go out with them without their dad with us for help. A mom group has recently formed and I decided to attend one of their outings today for the first time which was at a zoo where it’s set up on trails. Everything was going great, until after we pet the goats. At the end of the trail there was a (wild) ground hog that emerged out of the goat enclosure. My 2 year old walked up closer and it immediately jumped up and attacked his face. He has a bite mark and a few scratches. It all happened so fast I’m still trying to process everything. We immediately went to the ER where he got a rabies shot (and a few others coming up). He did great and thankfully didn’t need stitches.

I feel so fucking stupid and SO bad for my son. It’s a wild animal and although he didn’t try to pet him or anything I should have been watching him harder. I obviously just didn’t expect anything like that to happen. What a scary day, and I’m now afraid of groundhogs.