Coyote attacks are events where coyotes attack humans. While these attacks are uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries, they have been increasing in frequency, especially in California. Although media reports generally identify the animals as simply "coyotes", some attackers in northeast North America may be hybrids known as coywolves.
Coyote attacks on humans are uncommon events and rarely cause serious injuries, but have been increasing in frequency, especially in California. In the 30 years leading up to March 2006, at least 160 attacks occurred in the United States, mostly in the Los Angeles County area. [1] Data from the United States Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other sources show that while 41 attacks occurred during the 10-year period of 1988–1997, 48 attacks were verified during the 6-year period of 1998 through 2003. The majority of these incidents occurred in Southern California near the wildland-suburban interface. [2]
Coyotes are losing their fear of humans, which is further worsened by people intentionally or unintentionally feeding coyotes. [2] In such situations, some coyotes have begun to act aggressively toward humans—chasing joggers and bicyclists, confronting people walking their dogs, and stalking small children. [2]
Although media reports of such attacks generally identify the animals in question as simply "coyotes", research into the genetics of the eastern coyote indicates those involved in attacks in northeast North America, including Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and Eastern Canada, may have actually been coywolves, hybrids of Canis latrans and wolves. [3]
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Two fatal coyote attacks on humans have been confirmed by experts:
| Date | State or Provence | Country | Victims | Age | Short summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 17, 1997 | Arizona - Scottsdale | United States | 2 | Children | On December 17, 1997, coyotes bit two children in Scottsdale, Arizona. Neither child had serious injuries. [8] |
| October 2001 | California - San Clemente | United States | 2 | Children | In October 2001, in San Clemente, a coyote attacked several children on a schoolyard. An 8-year-old girl was bitten on the back of her neck and scratched. A 7-year-old boy was bitten on his back and arm. [9] |
| April 2006 | Washington - Bellevue | United States | 2 | Children | In April 2006, two coyotes bit two young children in Bellevue, Washington. The coyotes were euthanized afterwards. [10] |
| April 6, 2010 | Texas - [Port Aransas | United States | 2 | Teens | On August 6, 2010, in Port Aransas, Texas, two Boys Scouts, 14 and 15 years old, from San Antonio, were bitten by a coyote while sleeping outside their tent on the beach. The boys received preventive rabies shots. [11] |
| June 2010 | New York - Rye | United States | 2 | Children | In June 2010, a 6-year-old girl and a 3-year-old girl were attacked and seriously injured in separate attacks by coyotes in Rye, New York. The 6-year-old was attacked by two coyotes on June 25 and the 3-year-old was attacked by one coyote on June 29. There was no indication the animals were rabid, but the girls were given rabies shots as a precaution. [12] [13] |
| September 2011 [a] | Colorado - Broomfield | United States | 3 | Children | During a period of two months, from July to September 2011, three children between the ages of two and six were bitten by a coyote in Broomfield, Colorado. [14] All four encounters are thought to have involved the same adult male coyote, who was euthanised. [15] |
| October 14, 2015 | California - Irvine | United States | 2 | Adult & child | On October 14, 2015, a 31-year-old man and his 3-year-old son were attacked by a coyote while they were in a garden. [16] |
| June 13, 2019 | New Jersey - Fairfield | United States | 2 | Adult & child | On June 13, 2019, a coyote in Fairfield, New Jersey mauled a thirty-four-year-old woman and her four-year-old son in Fairfield's recreational complex. [17] |
| March 12, 2021 | California | United States | 5 | Adults & children | On March 12, 2021, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it had captured and euthanized a coyote that had attacked five people (two of whom were children) in the towns of Moraga and Lafayette since July 2020. [18] One of the children was a 2-year-old boy who was bitten on July 9, 2020 on the leg near Moraga Commons Park's restrooms. [19] [20] |
Much of the published scholarly research on coyote attacks on adults comes from California, but press reports detail attacks all across the continent.
Not all the coyote attacks on adults in California between 1979 and 2003 reported by Timm, et al. resulted in injury. In some, bitten articles of clothing or backpacks show that injury was narrowly avoided. In others, the attack was immediately broken off by the coyote once it could make off with an item the uninjured victim was carrying. While several victims were hiking, working, or jogging in unpopulated areas, many occurred at the victim's own home. Many appear to have been "test bites" on people who seemed incapacitated, but as soon as the victim reacted, the attack was abandoned. A selection of these attacks are listed below. Some add context to one or more of the attacks on children listed above. Many began as attacks on a person's pet, provoking sequential counter-attacks. [9]
| Year | Time of year | Location | Victim | Activity | Surroundings | Result | Time of day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | June | Pasadena | M | Picking up newspaper | Yard | Heel bitten | Early morning |
| 1979 | July | Pasadena | M | Jogging | ? | Both legs bitten, chased up tree | ? |
| 1988 | October | San Diego | F | Talking on phone | Yard | Bitten | ? |
| 1990 | June | Reds Meadow | ? | Sleeping | Campground | Hand bitten | Night |
| 1990 | June | Reds Meadow | ? | Sleeping | Campground | Foot bitten | Night |
| 1992 | March | San Marcos | F | Defending dog | Yard | Face bitten | ? |
| 1992 | April | Fallbrook | M | Working | Grove | Bitten | ? |
| 1994 | March | Griffith Park | M | ? | ? | Bitten | Noon |
| 1994 | October | Griffith Park | M | ? | ? | Bitten | 5 pm |
| 1995 | March | Griffith Park | F | Preparing food | Yard | Bitten | Day |
| 1995 | June | Laguna Niguel | M | Stargazing | Yard | Foot bitten | Night |
| 1995 | June | Laguna Niguel | M | Picking up newspaper | Yard | Foot bitten | Mid-morning |
| 1995 | July | Griffith Park | M | Sleeping | Lawn | Foot bitten | 2:45 pm |
| 1995 | July | Griffith Park | M | Sleeping | Lawn | Foot bitten | 4 pm |
| 1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | Two F | ? | ? | Ankle bitten twice, pulled to ground | ? |
| 1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | F | ? | ? | Lunch pail stolen | ? |
| 1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | F | ? | ? | Purse stolen | ? |
| 1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | M | ? | ? | Shoe bitten | Before dawn |
| 1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | M | ? | ? | Backpack successfully defended | ? |
| 1997 | February | South Lake Tahoe area | M | Feeding the coyote | ? | Hand that fed it bitten | ? |
| 1997 | September | Pomona | M | ? | ? | Bitten on ankle | ? |
| 1998 | November | San Mateo County | F | Hiking in a group | ? | Buttock bitten | ? |
| 1998 | November | San Mateo County | F | Hiking in a group | ? | Pant leg bitten | ? |
| 1999 | Spring | South Lake Tahoe area | Two | ? | ? | Bitten | ? |
| 1999 | Spring | South Lake Tahoe area | F | ? | Motel parking lot | Bitten | ? |
| 1999 | May | Canyon Country | M | Defending dog | ? | Scratched | Night |
| 1999 | August | Green Valley Lake | F | Defending dog | Yard | "Attacked", captive in car | 8:30 am |
| 1999 | October | Ventura County | M | Bicycling w/dog, six coyotes | ? | "Attacked" | ? |
| 2000 | February | Calimesa | M | Defending dog | Yard | Cuts, scrapes, and bruises | 9 pm |
| 2001 | April | Pomona | 54-year-old F | Defending dog | Yard | Leg bitten | 4:30 pm |
| 2001 | July | Tustin | F | ? | ? | Bitten | ? |
| 2001 | August | Hollywood Hills | M | Defending dog | ? | Bitten 8 times | 11:50 pm |
| 2001 | August | Irvine | F | Defending dog | ? | Bitten | 4:30 pm |
| 2001 | September | Agoura | F | Defending dog | ? | "Attacked" | 7:15 am |
| 2001 | September | Lancaster | M | Walking | ? | Fought off 4 coyotes with walking stick | Morning |
| 2001 | November | La Habra Heights | F | Walking | Golf course | Arm bitten | Daytime |
| 2002 | May | Los Angeles | M | Walking dog | ? | "Attacked" | Evening |
| 2002 | July | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles | F | ? | ? | Arm bitten | 6 am |
| 2002 | July | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles | M | Walking | Between car and garage | Boot bitten | ? |
| 2002 | July | Carlsbad | F | Walking dog, 8-10 coyotes | ? | Bitten | 10 pm |
| 2002 | November | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles | F | Defending dog | ? | Fractured elbow, scratched | 1 pm |
| 2002 | December | East Highland | M | Working | Utility work area | Pants bitten | Evening |
| 2002 | December | East Highland | M | ? | ? | "Attacked" | Evening |
| 2003 | February | Lake View Terrace | "Jogger" | Jogging | Near "neighborhood coyote feeding station" | Ankle bitten | ? |
| 2003 | November | Claremont | M | ? | ? | Successfully defended self w/ walking stick | 8 am |
From the information gathered, we now list 89 coyote attacks in California (incidents when one or more coyotes made physical contact with a child or adult, or attacked a pet while in close proximity to its owner) (Table 1). In 56 of these attacks, one or more persons suffered an injury. In 77 additional encounters (not listed), coyotes stalked children, chased individuals, or aggressively threatened adults. In 35 incidents (not all listed), where coyotes stalked or attacked small children, the possibility of serious or fatal injury seems likely if the child had not been rescued.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (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.
Kevin Gaudet, stepdad to Dakota, 8, says the two were together on the sidewalk last Sept. 25, when the animal lunged at the girl and bit her ribcage area. "I turned around, it had a hold of her foot, the animal was about knee-high," he said, adding it then bit Dakota further up her torso. "If I'd grabbed a hold of it, I was going to break its neck....Dakota was taken to St. Catharines hospital, where it was assessed as a coyote bite, they say....as it could not isolate the animal for a 10-day observation period, locate the animal or confirm its health status, it recommended the anti-rabies vaccine as a "precautionary measure."
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The man is okay but his 10-year-old Yorkie, named Dodger, was dragged away by the coyotes and presumably killed.
The attack occurred in the 4800 block of East Alder Drive in Kensington.
The two were fully camouflaged and set up for turkey hunting. Cardilli was using a slate call to call in gobblers for his friend when he was hit hard from the backside and toward his left by a full grown adult coyote. Cardilli thinks the coyote had been stalking his slate calls and picked up on his movements while calling.
He bit me four times real quick on the arm and hand," said Blanton Robertson, 24, who was asleep on a friend's patio near 11th Street when he was bitten in late May. "I hopped up to my feet, and we ran the coyote off. But he stood there in the street and kind of looked at us for a while.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department says a 48-year-old man was attacked by a coyote. Martin Frohnapfel was walking his dog near a trailer court in Dalton, MN, when a coyote tried to attack the dog. Frohnapfel stepped between them, to fight off the coyote, and was bitten on both hands.
A student at Brandeis University is recovering from what the school is calling a possible coyote attack.
Brandeis University is telling students to be on the lookout for wild animals. The Waltham, Mass. school sent out an advisory saying a female student was possibly bitten by a coyote Wednesday morning. It has not been confirmed that the animal was, in fact, a coyote.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)A woman thought she heard a dog trying to get into her chicken coop in her backyard. When she went to investigate, she hit the animal with a broom and it turned and started to attack her. Her adult daughter, who lived in a separate house on the same property, heard the commotion and got a gun and shot the coyote. Brevard fire officials said the 84-year-old woman was taken to Palm Bay Hospital in stable condition. BCSO, Fire Rescue, as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission were called to the scene. The coyote was sent to the state lab to test for rabies.
It is unknown if the coyote is rabid or was displaying any signs of the illness. In such cases where a contact occurs and a wild animal is not captured, bite victims are usually treated for rabies as a precaution, according to the health board. The woman is undergoing the treatment. Read more: Wrentham woman bit by coyote, animal control investigating - Bellingham, MA - Country Gazette
So I took my flashlight and hit it over the side of the head to get it to let go. As soon as I got it to let go then another one went to lunge at me. All I really thought to do was swing and knock it to get it from jumping at me again," Dickehage said. "Picture closing your eyes and having the three figures, you can barely see them, and all you could do is keep your hands up and just make sure that they weren't going for the face. "You feel the initial impact, and as soon as you felt it, then you could react and go to shove, but, I mean, after that … all I could try doing was make sure I was moving backwards.
Officers with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they captured the three coyotes within two days of the attack. "All three animals tested negative for rabies," officials said.
A man was attacked Friday morning by a coyote near a country club in Mansfield, said Mansfield Police and an ODNR spokesperson. Police said the victim called 9-1-1 to report seeing a pack of four coyotes around 11 a.m. in the 900 block of Springmill Road near the Westbrook Country Club. Mansfield police responded to the scene to find the man had been bitten, said the ODNR spokesperson. The ODNR game warden was called in to investigate. The spokesperson said the man was transported to the hospital with injuries that appear to be coyote bite marks. ODNR did not find any coyotes in the area, but said the victim's supervisor and a law enforcement officer reported seeing the coyotes. The victim worked for a golf club in the area.
Earlier today, a pack of coyotes reportedly attacked 21-year-old Matthew Storer.
MANSFIELD — A man who was riding a lawnmower at the former Lumbermens Office Village was taken to the emergency room Friday after he told authorities he was attacked by a pack of coyotes. Matthew Storer said he was on the riding mower, wearing headphones and blowing leaves off the lot when the coyote attacked. "Next thing I know I've got a coyote latched to my left arm," Storer said upon his return to the scene from MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital. Storer said he only suffered scratches and a wound, and did not require stitches, only rabies shots. His arm was injured in the incident which took place just before noon near Westbrook Country Club on Ohio 39, in Mansfield's northwest side. Mansfield police Sgt. Angie Eichinger said she saw three coyotes when she arrived, but they disappeared into the woods. Police contacted the Richland County game warden, Greg Wasilewski. Wasilewski said he doesn't know why they attacked the man.
52-year old Mary Lou Gardner told police that she was attacked by the 40 to 50 pound coyote just before 7 a.m. and suffered a puncture wound on her leg. The animal then went after her dog, Jasmine.
The woman took off her jacket during the attack and used it to try to shield herself against the coyote.
"Basically it was protecting its den and came running out of the den after the dog, I imagine," said Rippy.
It happened Thursday evening in a wooded area southwest of Foothills Parkway and Arapahoe Avenue, about one mile east of the school's main campus.
Michael Gagnon said he let his 5-year-old boxer out when he got home from work, and minutes later heard her yelping. "And I ran down there and there are three coyotes attacking her," he said. Gagnon said he had to fight off the coyotes and suffered a long cut on his arm as a result. "When I tried to push him down, he just came up on me," he said. Lulu has at least four bite wounds that her owners estimate are about an inch deep, and she's having a difficult time walking.
Beaufort County, SC (WLTX) -- A person in Okatie in Beaufort County is getting treatment for rabies exposure after being bitten by a coyote that tested positive for the disease. The SC Department of Health and Environmental Control says the person was bitten on September 25 and that tests the following day confirmed the coyote had rabies.
A 35-year-old Clinton resident said he needed 14 stitches in his face after what appeared to be a coyote attacked him unprovoked Tuesday night, biting him in the face. Police said the animal, believed to be a wild coyote or large dog of some sort, went after the man while he was walking down Liberty Street....
the man was in a sleeping bag outside when the coyote attacked him at about 12:30 a.m. at the campground on Athabasca Street East
"The fact that they packed up and acted as aggressively as they did toward her is of concern, because normally they will just shy off by someone yelling or shooing them off," said conservation officer Jim Beck. Beck said he was alerted to the situation on Wednesday, when a friend of Sarah James, the woman who was attacked, called. James had been walking a friend's labradoodle on the Summerland Centennial Trail, when she was surrounded by three coyotes. The man told Beck the attack had occurred and that he was providing basic care to her. The injuries were defensive, which eliminated health concerns, said Beck. He had a follow up conversation with James Wednesday evening and another today, Friday, to see how she was doing and to inform her one coyote had been taken out in close proximity to where the attack took place. James, whose coat was torn up and left hand injured during the incident, has been recovering at home since it happened.
York Regional Police and the Ontario SPCA are hunting for two animals believed to be coyotes or feral German shepherds in Markham, just north of Toronto, after two women were injured in attacks Monday. hi-coyote-istock-3col Police are looking for two wild animals they suspect could be coyotes, similar to the one pictured here, after two residents north of Toronto were attacked. (istock) The animals chased several people in the Huntington Park neighbourhood and attacked two women on Monday afternoon.
York Regional Police are still searching for two "coyote-like" animals after they attacked two women and chased several residents into their homes in a Thornhill neighbourhood. "Right now the general belief is that they are coyotes or perhaps a hybrid," says Sergeant Clint Whitney.
Const. Laura Nicole with York Regional Police said they are confident the animals are wild. "These are wild, feral animals, whether they're dogs or coyotes, we don't believe these are domesticated animals whatsoever," she said.