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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.”

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Conservation officers are warning British Columbians of the dangers of feeding wildlife following an attack on a Lower Mainland toddler by a coyote that had lost its fear of humans.

The girl, 2, suffered bites to the head and ear and minor scratches to her back during Monday’s attack at a playground in a Port Coquitlam school yard, before her parents were able to scare the animal away.

Provincial conservation officer Terry Myroniuk said agents later tracked and killed the animal. The contents of its stomach — chicken and mashed potatoes — confirmed it had been getting fed.

“What typically will happen is the animals will quite often lose their fear of humans and… approach humans in seeking out food — and this can sometimes result in unfortunate incidents,” Myroniuk said.

Feeding wild animals is an offence under the provincial Wildlife Act, Myroniuk pointed out, and the law is there for a reason.

“People who feed wildlife intend to help, but the practice instead puts the animals and the public in danger,” Myroniuk said.

“It’s not unusual for us to have coyotes existing in the Lower Mainland. But the behaviour that was exhibited by this animal — again, the lack of fear of humans, the lack of fear in actually approaching humans — is an indication that it had certainly been fed.”

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Great site with very useful information about wild animals in California. Here’s an excerpt about Mountain Lions.

You may be attracting mountain lions to your property without knowing it!

More than half of California is mountain lion habitat. Mountain lions generally exist wherever deer are found. They are solitary and elusive, and their nature is to avoid humans.

Mountain lions prefer deer but, if allowed, they also eat pets and livestock. In extremely rare cases, even people have fallen prey to mountain lions.

Mountain lions that threaten people are immediately killed. Those that prey on pets or livestock can be killed by a property owner after the required depredation permit is secured. Moving problem mountain lions is not an option. It causes deadly conflicts with other mountain lions already there. Or the relocated mountain lion returns.

Help prevent deadly conflicts with these beautiful wild animals.

Living in Mountain Lion Country

• Don’t feed deer; it is illegal in California and it will attract mountain lions.
• Deer-proof your landscaping by avoiding plants that deer like to eat. For tips, request A Gardener’s Guide to Preventing Deer Damage from DFG offices.
• Trim brush to reduce hiding places for mountain lions.
• Don’t leave small children or pets outside unattended.
• Install motion-sensitive lighting around the house.
• Provide sturdy, covered shelters for sheep, goats, and other vulnerable animals.
• Don’t allow pets outside when mountain lions are most active—dawn, dusk, and at night.
• Bring pet food inside to avoid attracting raccoons, opossums and other potential mountain lion prey.

Identifying Mountain Lion Tracks The mountain lion track on the left can be distinguished from the dog track on the right by the absence of toenail prints and by the “M” shaped pad

Staying Safe in Mountain Lion Country

Mountain lions are quiet, solitary and elusive, and typically avoid people.

Mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare. However, conflicts are increasing as California’s human population expands into mountain lion habitat.

• Do not hike, bike, or jog alone.
• Avoid hiking or jogging when mountain lions are most active—dawn, dusk, and at night.
• Keep a close watch on small children.
• Do not approach a mountain lion.
• If you encounter a mountain lion, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms; throw rocks or other objects. Pick up small children.
• If attacked, fight back.
• If a mountain lion attacks a person, 
  immediately call 911.

click to enlarge 
 Mountain lions can be found wherever deer, their primary prey, are found. They are a Specially Protected Mammal in California and cannot be hunted.

Link (It’s a PDF)

A very informative document from the New Mexico Game and Fish Department.

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Coyotes pose risk to residents, city worker says

WILDLIFE: Animal farm attendant believes an attack inevitable

Posted By SHAWN JEFFORDS, THE OBSERVER

Posted 16 hours ago

City hall has known at least two years that coyotes are living in or near Sarnia’s largest park and have done nothing about it, despite their increasingly aggressive behaviour.

So says Tim Steadman, longtime attendant at the Children’s Animal Farm in Canatara Park, who came face-to-face with two of the bold predators in January.

Steadman shares his experience for the first time in an exclusive feature on Page C1 today, which includes wildlife experts offering insights on urban coyotes.

Steadman, who was backed into a barn by the aggressive pair he encountered, believes a coyote attack in Canatara is not just possible, but inevitable.

An incident Monday in Point Edward in which a 10-year-old boy sought refuge on a porch while a coyote foraged in garbage has done nothing to change his mind.

“My biggest fear is that a farm employee or a child is going to be targeted,” he said.

Steadman is speaking out after months of fearing he would lose his job at the Animal Farm.

After taking a doctor-recommended stress leave, he was transferred to work at Clearwater Arena with no word he’d ever be moved back.

He wants to return to Canatara, but said the city needs to deal with the pair of coyotes.

Acting city manager Lloyd Fennell denied Steadman has been punished.

He said the city is waiting for guidance from the Ministry of Natural Resources on how best to handle the animals.

“Even the experts . . . are all struggling with what the answer is,” he said.

“We need to take our lead and any future directions from the professionals.”

Steadman said the park coyotes have lost their fear of humans and continue to hunt close to the farm and its domesticated livestock.

“In my opinion, what has to happen is those two particular coyotes have to be dealt with. If that offends some people then I’m sorry. You’ve got to think of public safety.”

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What’s going on in NY? The 4th Coyote attack in 3 weeks.

Coyote attacks local man

Officers forced to shoot and kill
coyote

Updated: Thursday, 16 Apr 2009, 9:47 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 16 Apr 2009, 6:37 AM EDT

• Jericka Duncan
• Photographer Danylo Paszkowsky Posted by Emma Orn

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) – Police officers were forced to shoot and kill a coyote that attacked a man in Niagara County Wednesday night. 

For the man who was close enough when the coyote turned ugly, getting away unharmed was quite the feat. Officials said the 31 year-old man was walking along Zimmerman road late Wednesday night when the coyote circled him and then nipped at his legs. 

“They’re usually not aggressive. They usually try to stay away from humans,” said Capt. John Mangus from North Tonawanda Fire Department. 

Despite what’s typical of these animals, the health department reports this is the 4th time a coyote has tried to attack a human in the last three weeks in North Tonawanda. 

Nicole Azim is a resident there. She said, “I never thought we’d have a coyote living across the street from my house.” 

Some neighbors who heard police fire the shot that killed the coyote said they feel safer. “It’s not out running around anymore so I feel like I can go outside without it running out,” said Courtney Connors. 

Fire Captain Mangus said coyotes aren’t uncommon in the area. What you can do to protect yourself is simple. “Stay away from it! Right now what we’ve experienced is these are aggressive now. They’re not just running away,” said Magnus. “Be aware that they are out there. You know going out into your backyard. Turn lights on first. Hopefully that will scare them off.” 

Health officials said they will test the coyote for rabies. 

Mark Alessandrea from North Tonawanda said, “Unfortunately it didn’t have rabies. That’s kind of sad. I like the wildlife here. That’s why I moved here.”

>> Click here for Coyote Safety Tips

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It’s amazing how common wolves and coyotes are throughout the US.

Chatham police issue warning after coyote sightings

by Sarah Schillaci/For The Star-Ledger 

Thursday April 16, 2009, 6:13 PM

Chatham police were warning residents today to not get too close to a mangy-looking coyote seen in town during daylight.

Lt. Phil Crosson said a single coyote had been sighted three times in backyards and neighborhoods near North Summit Avenue, Hedges Avenue and Main Street. The coyote seen was very small and Crosson said it was probably the same coyote spotted each time.

The coyote was probably shedding its fur, Crosson said, which would account for its mottled appearance.

Coyotes are members of the dog family. The wild animal resembles a German shepherd, but has a long snout and a bushy, black-tipped tail. They range from 20 to 50 pounds and can be seen, in different varieties, throughout North America.

Coyotes are hardly uncommon in New Jersey. State wildlife authorities said the animal has been seen in all 21 counties.

In recent years, coyotes have been spotted in suburban towns like Marlboro, Verona and Denville. According to the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, coyotes are more visible when they first bear their pups in April and May, when the animal begins foraging for food during daylight. They often look for food in open garbage cans and compost piles.

Coyotes rarely attack humans, but Crosson cautioned residents against feeding it or getting too close to the animal.

“People have been sending us pictures of it,” Crosson said. “We don’t want someone walking up to it with a camera.”

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Coyote Still Roaming East End Neighbourhood

Tuesday April 14, 2009

CityNews.ca Staff

A clever coyote continues to prowl an east end neighbourhood, though city officials have been trying for weeks to capture it.

The coyote was first spotted last February when it jumped a fence in the Neville Park Blvd. and Queen St. East area. It attacked and killed a chihuahua, Zoe, after jumping into the yard of a residence backing out onto a ravine.

The pet’s owners said they spotted the predator back in their yard over the weekend, and they’re not the only ones. Residents have been taking photos of and even painting the coyote, who some have taken to calling Neville.

“I would be happy to co-exist with him,” one local artist suggested. “I love having him in my back garden.”Officials warn homeowners who’ve taken a shine to the creature that he does pose a threat, as evidenced by what happened to Zoe. They say the coyote is too tame and must be moved.

Though there was talk that the coyote might have to be euthanized, the city is now reportedly trying to capture the animal in a box trap so it can be moved to a zoo or wildlife refuge.

“We’re focused on the box traps, because the best thing about the box trap is you not only catch it but it’s movable,” noted Rob Andrusevich with the City of Toronto. “That’s our number one option.”

If you see a coyote near your home, give Toronto Animal Services a call at 416-338-7297.

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I think when you are walking down a street you really aren’t expected to get circled by a coyote and then bit on the knee. This had to be a crazy moment. Good thing children weren’t involved.

NIAGARA COUNTY: When wild animals attack

NT man claims coyote bit him in latest wild animal encounter report.

By Neale Gulley
Niagara Gazette
A North Tonawanda man reported that he was bitten by a coyote on Sweeney Street around 1 a.m. Tuesday.

The Niagara County Health Department’s Director of Environmental Health Jim Devald said it is the latest of three suspicious animal reports in as many weeks. In each case a bite was reported.

The man, who is in his 20s, refused immediate treatment for a single puncture wound below the knee, North Tonawanda Fire Department Assistant Chief Joseph Sikora said. 

“I guess he was just walking down the street,” he said, “He told us the coyote came out, circled him a couple of times and nipped him in the leg.”

Sikora, an avid gamesman, Devald and Mayor Larry Soos’ Secretary Gregg Schnitzer all said it is the first time they’ve ever heard of such a thing involving a coyote within city limits. Schnitzer sent a memo around City Hall Tuesday to inform officials of what had happened. The health department also issued a press release warning residents about rabies.

The coyote apparently attacked along the 1100 block of Sweeney St., ran off and has not been located.

Gina Browning of the SPCA said such events don’t usually involve her agency.

“Everything I’ve heard from our wildlife department is that coyotes are very highly unlikely to approach people,” she said.

Devald said the incident was reported to his department as required by law, and the man now must undergo post exposure treatment for rabies.

“The intent is to air on the side of caution,” he said. “Rabies is fatal, so you don’t want to make any assumptions.”

The first case of rabies in Niagara County was reported this past week on Ide Road in Wilson where a fox tangled with a man’s dog. The animal was captured, killed and tested positive for the disease.

Last weekend, health officials got word another man driving along Erie Avenue in North Tonawanda spotted a fox, “So he got out to pet it and the fox bit him and ran off,” Devald said, stressing it is never wise to approach a wild animal.

Similar to Tuesday’s coyote incident, treatment involving five shots over the course of 28 days will be required even thought the animal’s health status cannot be confirmed.

Amazingly enough, coyotes have not only survived but thrived in urban and suburban areas across North America, according to this article by the Associated Press.

Urban coyote attacks on rise, alarming residents

By JUDITH KOHLER – 20 hours ago

DENVER (AP) — A coyote ambling into a Chicago sandwich shop or taking up residence in New York’s Central Park understandably creates a stir. But even here on the high plains of Colorado, where the animals are part of the landscape and figure prominently in Western lore, people are being taken aback by rising coyote encounters.

Thanks to suburban sprawl and a growth in numbers of both people and animals, a rash of coyote encounters has alarmed residents.

Wildlife officials are working to educate the public: Coyotes have always been here, they’ve adapted to urban landscapes and they prefer to avoid humans.

“Ninety-five percent of this problem is a human problem, and we really need to focus on that 95 percent to solve it,” said Nicole Rosmarino, wildlife program director of the environmental group WildEarth Guardians.

Since December, four people in the Denver area have been nipped or bitten by coyotes. A fifth told police a coyote lunged at him.

State wildlife officers have killed seven coyotes. An eighth was killed by a sharpshooter hired by Greenwood Village, in Denver’s southern suburbs.

“These are coyotes that were born and raised in the ‘hood,” said Liza Hunholz, an area manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Marc Bekoff, a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Colorado, says there are more people and less habitat along Colorado’s Front Range, bringing the animal and people populations into closer proximity and producing what he calls “an unprecedented scare response.”

“The communities seem to be really feeding one another,” said Bekoff. He has studied coyotes for 40 years and believes that in some cases dogs are mistaken for coyotes.

Coyotes once were found primarily on the Great Plains and in the Southwest, but have expanded their turf to most of North America. Populations of wolves, a fierce competitor, have shrunk, and swaths of forest have turned into coyote-friendly open spaces.

After generations of urban living, some coyotes navigate subdivisions as easily as the cactus and scrub oak of the high desert where their ancestors roamed. Experts won’t even try to guess how many coyotes there are nationwide.

Coyote sightings have skyrocketed in Greenwood Village. Last year, police received 186 reports, including 15 clashes with pets. Already this year, there have been 142.

“People are afraid to let their pets out or their children to walk to school,” said Greenwood Village City Manager Jim Sanderson.

Jacque Levitch, of south Denver, was bitten by one of three coyotes she said confronted her and her Labrador retriever, Taz, on Feb. 21. “I hit it with my right fist and right forearm,” Levitch said.

Taz was all right. Levitch had to endure rabies shots. She said her neighbors now carry big sticks and golf clubs.

“If nothing is done, I can only see the problem escalating,” Levitch said.

In New York City, a coyote pup was found in the Bronx last year, and in 2006 police captured a coyote in Central Park. In California’s San Bernardino County, two toddlers were reported injured in separate coyote incidents last year.

One toddler was killed in California in the 1980s in the country’s only known fatal coyote attack.

WildEarth Guardians’ Rosmarino thinks in most cases it’s people who need to change their behavior. She has organized volunteers in Greenwood Village and other cities to walk through parks to shoo coyotes and make them more wary of people.

Most coyotes do everything they can to avoid people, said Stan Gehrt (GURT), an assistant professor at Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. That’s true even in Chicago, where Gehrt has led a study since 2000. About 300 coyotes there have been radio-collared and tracked.

The coyote that walked into the Chicago sandwich shop in 2007 got a lot of attention. But Gehrt said few people are aware of how many have lived in Chicago for decades. One of his subjects has a hiding spot near the downtown post office and thousands of people pass within yards of it each day.

“Even though they live in urban areas and figure out how people work … it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily becoming more aggressive toward us,” Gehrt said.

They also haven’t changed their diet. Gehrt expected to find urban coyotes eating a lot of garbage and pets. But their scat shows rodents are still the meal of choice, followed by deer, rabbits and birds.

Coyotes view pets such as cats and dogs as competitors, not food, Gehrt said. Most coyotes are submissive toward dogs, though some will stand their ground — especially during breeding season, when they may see dogs as rivals for mates. Mating season peaked in February, when some of the Denver-area incidents occurred.

Residents are warned to not feed coyotes, to keep dogs on short leashes, and to yell or throw rocks at coyotes so they associate humans with bad things. Bird seed may attract mice and voles, which then can draw hungry coyotes. Don’t leave out pet food and garbage, and don’t leave pets alone.

A coyote that bit a boy snowboarding on a golf course in Erie, 26 miles north of Denver, had been fed by golfers.

Reducing the number of coyotes doesn’t work, Rosmarino said, because the animals breed more and have bigger litters when their population declines. The U.S. Agriculture Department’s Wildlife Services killed more than 90,000 in 2007 to stem livestock attacks.

Relocation also doesn’t work, Gehrt said. Coyotes moved from Chicago to the country headed back to the city.

“The coyotes are here, they’ve always been here and the only way to deal with them is to understand them and make them afraid of you,” said Ned Ingham, a Greenwood Village retiree and one of Rosmarino’s volunteers. “We live in an area with wildlife.”