Woman killed by Coyotes as bystanders wait for police

[VicHockeyFan]

Wasn't anyone man enough to step in when that girl was attacked by coyotes? The best they could do was call 911 and wait for police? Come on, they are just coyotes, not a pack of lions...

Anyone know how long it took the cops to get there? I know the coyotes were still working her over when the cops got there, and they only shot one of them, so they got rid of them with one shot.

Why did the bystanders not pick up some sticks and let those coyotes have a beating?

I mean, I wouldn't exactly like the idea of doing it, but at a time like this, you have to act, for God's sake.

She probably ran, and was cowering, and fair enough, that's likely what anyone would do, try to minimize their impact. But a bystander running up to the scene has a good angle of attack, and a few well-placed boots to the chests or face of those things, and they are gonna think twice about sticking around. 3 or 4 people approaching and they are gonna get the message, and scram.

By the way, this girl was only the second North American ever killed by a coyote, the other was a toddler in California in the 80's.


Crap, can a mod fix my title...

[Caramia]

Done!

[weirdie]

People are afraid of a dangerous situation that isn't familiar to them. It's pretty simple.

[aastra]

By the way, this girl was only the second North American ever killed by a coyote, the other was a toddler in California in the 80's.

As always with animal attack statistics, we have to add "...as far as we know." I'd bet a donut that there have been at least a few other coyote-related fatalities in the past 300+ years. Not a lot, because coyotes aren't very big. But I'll never believe that these particular coyotes in the year 2009 were the very first coyotes ever to prey on a non-infant human being without blowing it.

Coyotes are coyotes:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...5c2f6f&k=99602

As to the inaction of bystanders, I have no idea. Methinks in a situation like that you just have to act. If you ponder it, you'll paralyze yourself. These folks were able to battle a cougar, which is probably worth five or six coyotes at least:

When Nicholls caught up to her, Hjelle was on her back, her helmet in the lion's mouth, the lion dragging her into the brush. Nicholls dismounted and threw her bike at the lion. She grabbed Hjelle's leg—and held on. For an instant, the lion released Hjelle's head but then bit her face, and resumed the tug of war with Nicholls...

When Magnuson pedaled up, he found Nicholls pulling on something in the bushes. Realizing it was her friend, and that Hjelle's head was engulfed in a lion's mouth, its white whiskers smeared with her blood, he grabbed a softball-size rock to throw at the cat...

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ad...on-attack.html

[aastra]

Another one of those familiar animal-attack cliches...the coyotes thought she was a deer. Because no self-respecting coyote, cougar, bear, shark, crocodile, etc. would ever attack a human being on purpose. All animals know that humans are special and should be left alone, because we have families and jobs and bank accounts and TV shows that we love, and so forth.

Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft said coyote attacks are extremely rare because the animals are usually shy.

Bancroft, a retired biologist with Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources, said it's possible the coyotes thought Mitchell was a deer or other prey.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091028/..._coyote_attack

[Phil McAvity]

I heard about this but in none of the stories I saw did they mention there being others around.

God, what a bunch of useless pansies those people were. Well now they will have to live with that for the rest of their lives. I could see people being scared of a pack of wolves but two coyotes?!?!?! And why the hell couldn't the woman defend herself from them? Coyotes rarely weigh more than 50 pounds.

And most importantly, who knew there were coyotes in Cape Breton?!?!?!

[aastra]

African wild dogs are about the same size as coyotes. How well do you think you'd do if two of them attacked you? Fall down and you're in big trouble.

Methinks people are way too casual about coyotes.

[Bob Fugger]

Originally Posted by aastra

African wild dogs are about the same size as coyotes. How well do you think you'd do if two of them attacked you? Fall down and you're in big trouble.

Methinks people are way too casual about coyotes.

Pffft, all you really need is an anvil or at most some nitro glycerine.

[Ms. B. Havin]

From the news reports I saw, it doesn't seem to be the case that people were standing around while this happened - they came on the scene once the attack was well underway. And the young woman died the next day, of her injuries. She had bite marks all over her body and was bleeding profusely by the time other people arrived. Horrible story... One item said they (the coyotes / wild dogs) go for the ankles first. That's how they bring you down. Once you're down, they attack the tender parts. I feel very sorry for her mother/ family.

[aastra]

Pffft, all you really need is an anvil or at most some nitro glycerine.

It's not that simple. The difficult part is tricking the coyote so that he inadvertently uses the anvil or the nitroglycerin against himself.

[aastra]

And the really difficult part is waiting 6-8 weeks for the anvil to arrive in the mail.

[aastra]

Good analysis of the coyote situation:

"Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem"
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8qg662fb

We now list 89 coyote attacks in California...in 56 of these attacks, one or more persons suffered an injury. In 77 additional encounters, coyotes stalked children, chased individuals, or aggressively threatened adults. In 35 incidents where coyotes stalked or attacked small children, the possibility of serious or fatal injury seems likely if the child had not been rescued...

While it can be argued that, at present, risk of human injury as a result of coyote attack is very small in comparison to risk of dog bite, it is also true that humans have tremendous exposure to dogs. One estimate states there are 665,000 domestic dogs within the city of Los Angeles, as compared to perhaps 5,000 coyotes.

[Sisi Summers]

Wow I know this post is years old but I do agree with the idea that people should always try to fend off coyotes with noise and waving arms and advancing on them if there is a need to get them off someone or a pet.

I know I would try. Coyotes spook easily as a rule and are not as vicious as wolves. I don't think I could ever just stand by and hope for the best for the victim.