Coyote killed in park after biting 2 - Page 1

For those who think wolves or coyotes are harmless to humans, "flight" is not the only option. Coyote killed in park after biting 2 By The Gazette Staff A coyote in Yellowstone National Park was shot and killed after biting two people near Old Faithful just before Christmas. The young, scrawny female coyote stole a woman's pack in front of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge on Dec. 23, Colin Campbell, a deputy superintendent at Yellowstone, said Monday. Her family got the pack back and threw snowballs at the coyote to try to scare it away. The coyote, though, doubled back and bit the woman on the ankle, puncturing the skin and leaving scrapes on her foot, and then left, Campbell said. Rangers soon learned that a Yellowstone Association employee skiing was bitten on the lower leg by the same coyote. She whacked it with a ski pole, but the coyote only went a short distance away. The two incidents happened 10 to 15 minutes apart. "Its behavior was not at all normal," Campbell said. A park ranger and a maintenance worker lost sight of the coyote but tracked it to an area where it could be safely shot with a handgun. Its body was taken to the Montana Department of Livestock's veterinary lab, where technicians expedited tests for rabies on Christmas Eve. The results were negative. "Both victims were greatly relieved to hear that," Campbell said. There was no food in the pack that the coyote took and no indication that it had been in trouble before, Campbell said. When an animal attacks a person, Campbell said, "we just can't tolerate that." Published on Tuesday, January 01, 2008. Last modified on 12/31/2007 at 9:24 pm

They are definitely getting bigger and bolder. You used to never hear about coyotes in the East (I know this was out west) but we have some big ones and they are very suburban and city-adapted (unlike wolves)

yea, I recently read an article about the Eastern Coyotes being larger and much bolder. We had two incidents of children being attacked in their backyards in middle class suburbia! Live in NJ

tHAT IS SURPRISINGLY INTERESTING.....THE COYOTE PACKS ARE GETTING LOUDER AND BIGGER HERE IN TEXAS ALSO....THEY COME ALL AROUND MY PREMISES.AND THEY WILL LURE YOUNG PUPS AND DOGS OUT AND KILL THEM IMMEDIATELY....KENNELS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT EQUIPMENT WE OWN .....AND I PUT A ROOF OF WELDED WIRE ON ALL MY OUTDOOR KENNELS,,LARGE OR SMALL ....A COYOTE THAT IS HUNGRY CAN GET IN AND OUT BEFORE YOU CAN SAY ABC..." I HAVE A CREEL BED THRU MY PROPERTY AND THEY FIGURED OUT HOW TO GET IN THRU THE CREEK AND I LOOKED UP ONE NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT TO THREE OF THEM....THEY DID RUN AS SOON AS I RAISED MY GUN...I REALLY DIDNT WANT TO SHOOT COULDNT SEE WHAT I WAS SHOOTING ANYWAY....I DONT THINK A HUMAN WAS IN THE WOODS BEHIND THEM..BUT WHO KNOWS....WHO IS LURKING AT NIGTH IN THE SHADOWS....SO I WOULD HAVE IF I HAD TO....BUT THEY RAN AND I HAD THE WHOLE FIXED.....THEY ARE DEFINATELY BOLDER THAN THEY USE TO BE...MAYBE WHEN THE MOON IS FULL...?????

The coyote is very adaptable and clever. They do cross with domestic dogs sometimes, and because of the danger of a dog entering into a coyote's domain only large agressive dogs survive. Thats why you will see coyote's larger than average. I have seen many. Most people wont see one in the wild because they fear you, know your there, and avoid you. But suburban coyotes and coy dogs do not have this same fear. If you see one facing you instead of running away you have cause for concern. Man has been trying to get rid of the coyote in the U.S. for a very long time with no success. They are here to stay. Many in or national parks have lost they're fear of humans same as some bears, they are captured and relocated or eventually killed. They are a nessecary link in the food chain tho and serve a purpose, people should understand them better and not raise them as pets as I have also seen done. An interesting note, I know a man who raise's animals including domestic stock. His pigs were being taken by the coyotes until he acquired a puma. He watched the coyotes turn and run as soon as they caught the scent on the wind. They had never seen a puma I'm sure of that, but they knew they wanted no part of it for sure. Instinct takes over. Puma's to have had they're problems this year with a couple of attacts on humans. Every day there is less and less habitat, who do you blame. Its all about survival. My two cents.

not normal behavior - rabies or not, the coyote was sick or starving or both. Mentally screwed up. The actions of one sick coyote or other wild animal does not mean it is the norm. Could have been distemper, or other virus or illness. molly

I live in a Western Burb of Chicago Illinois and coyotes attacking small dogs while they are out in yards is becoming a very prevalent incident. Had 3 incidents in December alone. 2 dogs killed and one badly maimed. No human attacks that I know of. There are several coyotes in my neighborhood, but they keep their distance from my yard knowing I have a couple of GSD's that could put a serious hurt on them. It is quite amusing when they howl at night, cause it gets my female howling. Wonder if she has a suitor. LOL My male marks the fencing and trees that back my yard to let them know that they are not welcome. It is interesting how the coyotes are adapting to the denisty of humans to their environment, though. The ones by me appear not to fear humans, as they wander around freely in pretty densely populated areas.

Maybe just fed up with the damn tourists....Seriously, we had one frequenting our neighborhood, tearing up trash, etc., about 3 years ago, & he/she stood at the end of my driveway as I was leaving the house, I stood there looking at it, and it stood there looking at me; it held it's head slightly down, and was seeming to be trying to catch my scent; the moment I moved it was gone so quickly and quietly I had to ask myself if I had really even seen it, but then I noticed the state my garbage was in...all over the place! About 4 or 5 months later I saw what I thought was a dog by the side of the road, dead, I stopped to make sure it was not a dog, and I think it was the same coyote, same coloration, anyway; and didn't have the trash raided anymore after that. It was a pretty thing, never did me or mine any real harm, so I was kind of sad that it lost it's battle with civilization. jh

Starvation is a problem for coyotes in the region, as they now must directly compete with local wolves who drive them from their carcass meals. Couple that with the conditioning to human exposure from tourists, and it will be interesting to see what develops. Any excuses aside, this "one sick coyote" isn't and won't be an isolated incident. Park animal behavior is NOT natural wild behavior.

Everyone blames the wild animals. Cases like this always makes me wonder what the tourist where really doing. Cant really blame the animals, we have taken over their habitat.