A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

Wardens in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park were setting traps for coyotes Monday after one of the animals repeatedly bit a young woman in the head as she slept outdoors.

The attack occurred at a campground about 30 kilometres from the site where two coyotes mauled 19-year-old Toronto singer Taylor Mitchell last fall – causing wounds that led to her death in a Halifax hospital.

In the latest attack, a 16-year-old girl from Nova Scotia was fast asleep in her sleeping bag outdoors when she awoke at 4 a.m. with a searing pain at the top of her head.

Derek Quann, the park’s resource conservation manager, said that her screaming and swinging arms drove the coyote off after the animal had bitten her twice in the head.

“She was awakened by a sharp pain and something odd going on. She realized she was being bitten by a wild animal,” he said. “All the indications are that it was a single coyote. One coyote was seen by other people leaving the area.”

The girl’s parents were sleeping in a tent about three metres away in the popular camping area on the park’s eastern coast.

The teenager was sent to a nearby medical clinic where her head wounds were stitched and she received rabies shots. She was released early in the morning, and she and her parents departed the campground, said Mr. Quann.

“We’ve had incidents since last fall’s attack that involve coyotes chasing joggers and cyclists,” he said, estimating there were between six to 10 incidents since Ms. Mitchell’s death. He said there’s little indication the animals are starving or deprived of prey. Rather, said Mr. Quann, some animals appeared to have learned not to fear humans.

Park wardens are setting traps in an attempt to kill the coyote involved in the campground attack. It’s part of a strategy to trap and kill coyotes considered aggressive to humans. Mr. Quann estimated about eight to 10 animals have been killed since Ms. Mitchell’s death.

“Coyotes are intelligent animals. They lean and they pass on that learning, and we have to be careful that there isn’t an unacceptable level of aggression … towards humans,” Mr. Quann said.

via Park staff hunt for coyote that bit sleeping teen on head – The Globe and Mail.

Another young girl was attacked by a coyote in Rye Tuesday evening while playing in her fenced backyard, just days after a 6-year-old girl was attacked by a pair of the wild animals about a mile away.

The news came Tuesday night as Rye Police Commissioner Williams Connors was giving a speech at the Jay Heritage Center about police efforts to ensure public safety after Friday’s coyote attack on 6-year-old Emily Hodulik on LaSalle Avenue.

Interrupting the talk, Connors received a call from an officer in the field stating that police were responding to an incident involving a coyote biting another child, this time on North Street in Rye.

The attack happened at 80 North St. while the girl was playing with friends in her fenced backyard.

Tricia Ellis, who lives next door to the family, said her daughter was playing in the backyard with the victim, a 3-year-old girl named Erica, when the coyote jumped over a rock in between two fences behind her and her neighbor’s home.

Ellis’ 6-year-old daughter, Stephanie, said she and Erica were making their way toward the Ellis’ backyard when she turned around and saw a coyote was attacking the girl and “chewing on her neck.”

Stephanie said she began to yell for her mother, who scared the coyote away and brought the children inside the home and called 911.

Ellis said Erica was covered in blood behind her ears and in parts of her hair. She said she could not immediately tell how badly Erica was hurt, but her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Ironically, Ellis said she had shown her two children a picture of a coyote earlier in the day, so they would know how to respond if the animal approached them.

Police have yet to make an official statement about the incident, but Erica’s father, who answered the door this evening after his daughter was transported to the hospital, told Rye Patch that she was bleeding from the neck, but that he was unaware of her condition. He said his wife was with their daughter at the hospital.

He declined to give his name or comment any further.

Coyote sightings are not uncommon around North Street. Many of the homes in the neighborhood share a backyard with the Rye Nature Center, so deer and other wildlife roam around the area.

Two neighbors of the family told Rye Patch they had just seen two coyotes around 8 p.m. in the neighborhood. At the Jay Heritage Center event, Connors said police received calls about the sighting of two coyotes near Midland School Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. It is not yet known whether these are the same coyotes involved in Friday’s attack.

Westchester County Police and Rye Police were still at the scene of the incident around 8 p.m. About an hour later, the Rye Fire Department was on scene, as well as two officers toting what appeared to be rifles. One of them was seen going behind 80 North St., in the direction of the grounds of the Rye Nature Center.

Police told Rye Patch that the coyote may still be hungry, so it is likely still in the area, which could make it easier for police to locate and trap the animal.

On Monday, Connors said though officials advocate humane trapping and release of coyotes, the police have no choice other than to be more aggressive in their efforts, since the animals have become less fearful of humans and more willing to approach, and in some cases, attack people.

Nevertheless, coyote attacks on humans remain extremely rare. On average, only six attacks occur in the United States each year.

Experts describe the animals as generally timid, leaving officials struggling to explain exactly why the attacks are happening.

One key factor is that coyotes have dramatically expanded their range and are now found in more metropolitan areas in North America than ever before, according to a recent study on coyote attacks on humans and animals by Lynsey A. White and Stanley Gehrt from Ohio State University’s School of Environmental and Natural Resources.

They looked at 142 reported attack incidents and found a slightly higher number of coyote attacks on children than adults, but that the majority of the attacks classified as “predatory” involved children.

Rabies didn’t appear to be a major factor, but attacks were more likely in spring and summer, reflecting the greater time spent outdoors. They also suggested in the report, published in October 2009 in the periodical Human Dimensions of Wildlife, that homeowners might unwittingly play a role by leaving pets or pet food outside unattended.

via Harrison Patch, NY – Coyote Attacks 3-Year-Old Girl in Rye, Bites Neck.

A six-year-old Rye girl was tackled and bitten by a pair of coyotes Friday night in front of her home on LaSalle Avenue, Rye police said.

The animals bounded from a nearby sidewalk to the girl’s front yard, where she was playing with friends at 9:15 p.m. As the girl began to run, the two coyotes “singled her out for the attack” and brought her to the ground, scratching and biting her amid screaming and confusion until an adult was able to scare them away, Rye police Commissioner William Connors said.

The girl was brought to Greenwich Hospital, where she was treated for bite marks to her shoulder, upper thigh and neck, as well as scratches and claw marks on her ear and back, Connors said. Her name and address weren’t released because of her age.

“Last night she was traumatized, obviously, and wasn’t able to say much while she was in the hospital, but our youth officer did a follow-up interview with her,” he said. “She seems to be a very brave young lady.”

Police spotted one of the coyotes a few minutes later in the same neighborhood, and an officer chased the animal onto the grounds of a nearby golf course. The officer took aim and fired at the coyote, but police don’t believe the shot found its mark. Officers searched the area — aided by thermal imaging cameras, infrared equipment and high-intensity lighting from mobile units — but weren’t able to track the animal down.

Friday’s incident was the second high-profile coyote attack in recent months. On March 31, a coyote attacked and killed a miniature poodle pet that belonged to a resident of the Osborn Retirement Community. The coyote snapped the small dog’s neck, prompting police to retain the services of a full-time trapper. The trapper has helped authorities in Rye and neighboring towns — like Port Chester, which has also had coyote sightings — set the traps in strategic areas.

Judith Steers, whose poodle Cleopatra was killed in the attack, said she arrived home at the retirement community this afternoon to find a recorded message from police on her answering machine.

In discussions with friends and family, she has worried that future attacks could target children, and Friday’s incident saw that fear realized.

“I said, you know, when they get used to people, the next thing is going to be a child,” she said. “I keep my eyes open all the time, because very often I’m walking from one house to the other at night.”

Other Rye residents share Steers’ anxiety.

“This makes me worry about letting the kids out,” said Joan Corbitt, who lives near the Glen Oaks neighborhood where the attack took place. “I don’t want to want to let them out of my sight.”

George and Anita Penn, also Rye residents, live in an apartment complex on Locust Avenue. And though their neighborhood is urban—and often busy with traffic—they are still apprehensive.

“I’d be cautious all day,” Mr. Penn said. “Especially with young children.”

Scott Sprague, a Port Chester resident who works as a ranger at Rye Town Park, said this is the first he has heard of coyotes attacking a human.

“I know coyotes will attach small animals—and sometimes dogs—but this is startling,” he said.

We haven’t seen any in the park recently,” Sprague added. “But that’s doesn’t mean they’re not around.

The attacks and uptick in sightings are a clear sign that expanding developments and increased human presence are infringing on the animals’ habitat. Connors said coyotes are becoming more brazen, and noted one case where a coyote was spotted “walking down the center line of Boston Post Road, near Playland Parkway,” one of Rye’s busiest and most heavily-trafficked areas.

It’s unusual behavior for an animal not usually known for aggressiveness.

“They are timid. They will attack a small dog, and as we’ve seen in this case, possibly a small child. Generally, they won’t go after anything that’s bigger than they are, and they usually weigh about 35 lbs,” Connors said. “The general wisdom is to act aggressively, to make noise…if the person flees, the coyote gets a sense of fear and will pursue. They’re very territorial.”

Steers agrees, saying she was able to finally scare the coyote off — and retrieve the body of her dog — when she rang a cowbell and pointed a flash light at the animal.

“I don’t know what we can do because there’s no predator,” above the coyote in the local food chain, she said.

Compounding the problem for police is the fact that action against potentially dangerous animals must be weighed against the safety of people in surrounding neighborhoods — traps must be set in areas where they aren’t likely to spring on pedestrians, children and small pets, and officers are severely limited in situations where they might otherwise fire shots at aggressive animals.

But Connors said Friday’s attack has made it clear “we need to be more aggressive.” Authorities will work with trappers and animal experts to capture and relocate potentially dangerous animals, and more traps will be set up around town.

“The equation has changed. Traditionally, we would shoot an animal only if it’s acting aggressive or sick,” he said. “This has changed that equation, and we will take action against one of these animals if we can do so safely.”

via Rye Patch, NY – Six-year-old Rye Girl Attacked In Front Yard By Pair Of Coyotes.

Link

A young Vernon girl is recovering after being attacked by a coyote Monday afternoon.

The girl suffered minor puncture wounds when the animal attacked as the family walked their small dog in a greenbelt area near Alexis Park Drive and 35th Avenue at 5pm.

Conservation Officer Josh Lockwood says coyote attacks in BC are rare, with only four attacks on humans in the last 15 years.

“In this incident, the people walking had a small dog which probably attracted the coyote’s attention to them,” says Lockwood.

The animal was not found following a search by a special response team.

The public is being cautioned against feeding the animal. Lockwood says it’s denning season for coyotes, prompting the animals to search for more food.

Residents are urged to contact Conservation if a coyote is spotted where it shouldn’t be roaming. The contact number is 1-877-952-7277.

Link

Young folk singer dead after attack by coyotes in Nova Scotia park

HALIFAX, N.S. — A young Canadian folk singer who had just set off on a solo tour to boost a promising musical career died Wednesday after being mauled by two coyotes in what is believed to be one of the country’s first fatal attacks by the animals.

Taylor Mitchell was hiking alone in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park on Tuesday afternoon when a pair of coyotes attacked her, leaving her critically injured with bite wounds covering most of her body.

The 19-year-old singer’s screams for help were heard by at least two other hikers, who rushed to the Skyline Trail and called 911 at around 3 p.m. as the animals continued their brutal attack on the young Toronto woman.

Mitchell, who was on a three-week tour of the region to promote her debut CD, was to play in Sydney, N.S., on Wednesday night when she decided to go for a hike in the scenic park.

“She loved going into the woods and hiking,” Lisa Weitz, her manager in Toronto, said through tears. “She was absolutely pumped about her first tour on the East Coast and to take her songwriting craft to new audiences…

“She just had a wonderful joy of life and sharing music.”

Mitchell, who had about a dozen concert dates in the Maritimes, was rushed to a local hospital and then airlifted to Halifax. She died at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

Paul Maynard of Emergency Health Services said she was already in critical condition when paramedics arrived on the scene and was bleeding heavily from multiple bite wounds.

“She was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds,” he said.

“This was really out of the ordinary – the first I’ve heard of something like this.”

RCMP Sgt. Brigdit Leger said officers shot one of the two animals, apparently wounding it, but both managed to get away.

An official with Parks Canada said they barricaded the entrance to the trail where Mitchell was attacked and were trying to find the animals to determine what prompted such an unusual attack.

Helene Robichaud, the park’s superintendent, said there have been a handful of reports of aggressive coyotes over the last 15 years, but they have not seen any attacks on people.

“There’s been some reports of aggressive animals, so it’s not unknown,” she said. “But we certainly never have had anything so dramatic and tragic.”

Officials shot a coyote late Tuesday, but Robichaud doubted that it was one of the two involved in the attack.

The provincial Natural Resources Department said there is no other record of a fatal coyote attack on a human in Nova Scotia since the animals were first discovered in the province in the ’70s.

In 2003, a teenage girl was bitten on the arm by a coyote while walking on the same trail as Mitchell, said Germaine LeMoine of Parks Canada. The girl’s parents managed to scare the animal away.

Biologists said it’s unlikely the coyotes involved had contracted rabies or were protecting young animals.

Bob Bancroft, a Nova Scotia wildlife biologist, said coyotes shy away from humans. But not all animals – particularly young, inexperienced coyotes in parks – view humans as predators.

“This is probably just a couple of coyotes that saw something vulnerable and went for it,” he said. “It’s horrible. It’s not something you would expect at all.”

Coyotes in the region are larger and behave somewhat differently than their counterparts in Western Canada, he said. Large males in Nova Scotia can weigh up to 60 pounds.

Simon Gadbois, a professor at Dalhousie University who studies animal behaviour, said hikers should always be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.

Should a hiker unintentionally surprise a coyote or other animal, Gadbois has simple, potentially life-saving advice: Never act like prey.”The worst thing you can do is start running away,” he said. “Wave your arms, shout, just show that you mean business basically and most animals will think twice.”

Ethel Merry, who manages a motel 10 kilometres from the park in Cheticamp, said people in the area have been seeing more coyotes in the last three years and are calling for controls on their numbers.

Merry said she and her family have seen packs of up to seven coyotes wandering around people’s yards and attacking pets.

“I’m not surprised at all that this happened,” she said. “The coyotes are all around us. … I am so afraid to walk my road.”

Mitchell, who graduated from the Etobicoke School of the Arts, had recently been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award and was being roundly praised for her songwriting talent.

Mitchell’s MySpace site shows the singer standing in the woods with her guitar and a suitcase at her side, along with the cover photo of her album, “For Your Consideration.”

Weitz said the singer had just gotten her licence and a new car, which she loaded with her CDs before setting off alone on the tour.

“She was a beautiful, dynamic, young, talented woman and we’re all so saddened and shocked,” Weitz said.

“She was such a young and old soul at the same time. She just knew how to beautifully craft a song.”

Singer Suzie Vinnick met the performer about three years ago and acted as a mentor, teaching her guitar as Mitchell played bars in Ontario and started to garner attention.

“She was really keen and hungry in a really positive way,” she said in an interview. “She was a great lyricist and held a lot of promise. I mean, she was at it for two years and already managed to get a Canadian Folk Music nomination.”