BOCA RATON, Fla. -- A man beat a fox to death with a pipe after it bit him and two other people in Boca Raton on Thursday.

According to a police report, the first attack happened at about 8:30 a.m. in the 400 block of North Ocean Boulevard.

Stephen Guleff, 60, told police he had been walking on the boardwalk when an animal bit him on the leg. Guleff initially told police it was a raccoon but later realized it was a fox.

After attacking Guleff, leaving a cut on his right calf, the fox ran away. Guleff drove himself to a hospital, police said.

Boca Raton police said they received a second report of an animal bite about 10 minutes later in the 1400 block of North Ocean Boulevard.

"I've just been bitten by, I think, a red tail fox up in Red Reef Park," Michael Noell told a 911 operator. "I think he's rabid. He came out of the woods crazy. I just killed him though. I have him here. I chased the sucker down. He bit me and my wife both."

Michael Noell, 57, told officers that the fox bit his wife, 56-year-old Dani Noell, on the knee. The animal was scared off, but it came back and bit Michael Noell on the leg, as well, police said. Michael Noell told investigators he grabbed a 6-foot piece of white PVC pipe and beat the fox on the head and neck until it died.

The couple took themselves to the hospital for treatment after being checked by paramedics.

Boca Raton police said there was a white foamy substance near the fox. Animal control officers removed the animal's body.