LEWISTON – An angry groundhog faced dogs, crying girls and a shovel-swinging dad Saturday before fleeing into the woods off Webster Street, perhaps with a gunshot wound from a police handgun.

“The thing was bionic,” said James Nelson, who was twice knocked to the ground while fighting the critter. “It kept going like it was on a mission.”

The furry animal – about the size of a fat cat – appeared around 11 a.m. behind the Nelson home.

First, it went after his two poodles, a mother and puppy. Nelson’s daughter Savannah and her friend, Elisha Loiselle, both 10, shrieked from the backyard pool as they heard barking and growling and turned to see the groundhog baring its teeth.

Nelson ran to them and shooed it away.

It came back, though, brushing against Elisha before Nelson could return. Then, it attacked him.

“It was as aggressive as aggressive can be,” Nelson said. It came after him, hissing. He kicked it, and it ran off. Yet, it came back again.

This time, Nelson grabbed a shovel. While Savannah called police, he tried whacking it on the head when he came close.

“It was like a bull and matador thing,” said Nelson. “I beat up myself trying to fight it off.”

Friend Cleo Dow watched from the neighbor’s lawn. “He really wanted Jim,” she said.

When Lewiston Patrol Officer Trent Murphy arrived, it was hiding beneath Nelson’s garage.

“I told him to draw his gun,” said Nelson, warning of the critter’s viciousness and speed. Murphy was explaining to Nelson that he had to be careful about pulling the weapon when the animal attacked both men.

“I said, Shoot it! Shoot it!'” Nelson said. Murphy pulled his gun and fired. Nelson, who kept the shell casing, said he’s not sure if Murphy’s shot struck the animal, which disappeared into the woods.

By Saturday evening, the groundhog had yet to return, Nelson said. It had frightened him, though.

“I’m a 240-pound vet,” said Nelson, trying to dispel the warm and fuzzy “Caddyshack” image of a groundhog.

“I’m not much scared of anything,” he said. “It was more of a Stephen King version of Caddyshack'”