Hunting Predator Hunting Coyote Hunting

The Worst Coyote Attacks

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By Alex Robinson

Updated on Apr 20, 2021 4:46 AM EDT

6 minute read

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10/02/01 An 8-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, were bitten by a coyote during their lunch hour at an elementary school in San Clemente, California. Another child was also attacked, but was protected by his backpack. The coyote snuck into the playground which was filled with children and a fourth-grade teacher threw water bottles and rocks at the coyote to scare it away. But instead of retreating, they coyote ran across the playground and lunged at a child. Both children suffered minor injuries and were treated at a local hospital. They also received rabies shots.

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6/13/96 A male coyote grabbed a 3-year-old in Palo Alto as the family was packing up the car after a picnic. The coyote clamped down on the boy's hand and started dragging him toward some bushes nearby. The boy's 15-year-old brother came to the rescue and scared away the coyote, which was later trapped and killed.
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2/17/97 Four-year-old Lauren Bridges, was attacked by a 40-pound coyote when she left her vacation rental in Lake Tahoe. The coyote tackled the girl and began biting her face. Luckily, the rest of her body was covered by ski clothes. Her father heard her screams and wrestled with the coyote as it continued ripping at the girl's face. Lauren survived the attack but needed 22 stitches for wounds on her face, neck and scalp. The father was not bitten, and the coyote was shot by a police officer who arrived at the scene.
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1999 Seven people were attacked by coyotes in only a few months in the Lake Tahoe area. One tourist was bitten in the thigh while walking in a casino parking lot. Airplane flights at the airport were cancelled or delayed because coyotes were causing havoc on the runway.
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6/30/10 A 3-year-old girl playing in her backyard was ambushed by a coyote in Rye, New York. Her friend ran at the sight of the coyote and went to get her mother, who eventually chased the animal off. The girl was bitten on her neck and torso. Just days before this attack, a 6-year-old was mauled by two coyotes and was bitten on her thigh, shoulder, neck, ear and back before her mother scared the two animals away.
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2/12/10 Marie Simon went into her backyard near Richibucto, New York at about 2:30 a.m. to let her puppy Sampson out. The puppy started pulling to go back in the house and Simon turned to see a coyote charging her dog. When she threw the puppy aside the coyote focused its attention on her. Simon wrestled with the coyote for about 10 minutes, covering her head to protect herself from the animal's sharp teeth while trying to punch it off. The coyote went for Simon's throat and she caught him with a right hook to the jaw. The coyote took off and Simon was treated at a local hospital.
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10/28/09 In one of the most gruesome attacks of all time, Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old Toronto singer was killed by coyotes while hiking in a Canadian national park. She was hiking alone when two coyotes ambushed her. Another hiker, who was walking nearby, heard her cries for help and called 911. Officers arrived shortly after, and one of the coyotes fled. The other coyote was shot by the officers.
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5/8/08 A coyote grabbed a 2-year-old girl by the head and tried to drag her from the front yard of her San Bernardino California. The coyote attacked the girl at noon when her mother, Melissa Rowley, went inside the home for a moment. Rowley came out of the house and saw the coyote dragging her daughter away. She ran at the animal, which released the girl and ran off. The girl was treated at the hospital for injuries to the head, neck and mouth. Photo by Richard Bard
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12/24/07 Janice Shattuck let her two dogs out in the yard on Christmas eve in Erie, Colorado. Within minutes she heard a commotion outside. Four coyotes were in the area and two had jumped the fence and were mauling her dogs. She started kicking the coyotes to free here dogs. She saved one of her dogs but the other was snatched up by the coyotes. During the struggle Shattuck was bit on the arm and hand. Photo by: Peyri Herrera
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10/6/05 Arthur Cole, 76, and his grandson Nicholas, 4, were walking near the Assabet River in Northborough, Massachusetts, when the 45-pound female coyote jumped them from behind. The boy ran for help while his grandfather wrestled the coyote to the ground. The grandfather grabbed the coyote by the tail and pinned it to the ground by the neck for about 15 minutes until police arrived and killed it. He was bitten by the coyote several times and had to have stitches. Photo by: Andrew Kalat
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8/4/2009 A coyote jumped over a 6-foot wall in Rossmoor, California and went after a woman and her two small dogs. One of the dogs, a 30-pound wire fox terrier charged the coyote protecting the woman from attack. The coyote sunk it's teeth into the terrier's back, but the dog thrashed about and was able to scare the coyote off. Photo by: the kennel club
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3/23/09 Jacque Levitch was walking her Labrador retriever Taz when three coyotes surrounded her near her home in Denver, Colorado. The two of the animals attacked the lab and when Levitch intervened, one of the coyotes bit her. Throwing kicks and punches, Levitch was able to scatter tge coyotes, but she suffered puncture wounds on her neck, leg, hip and hands. Her dog also survived the attack. Photo by: Richard Bard
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7/20/95 A coyote snuck up on a 15-month-old girl in a Los Angeles park. The girl was bitten in the thigh before her mother arrived and scared the coyote away.
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7/29/98 Three-year-old Daniel Neal of Sandwich, Massachusetts was playing on his swing set when he was ambushed by a coyote. Even after his mother forced the female coyote off the boy, the animal continued stalking the yard. Police arrived and shot the coyote.
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5/19/00 A 3-year-old boy was bitten by a coyote outside his apartment complex in San Diego County California. A police officer rushed to the scene and blasted the coyote with his shotgun, but it limped away and was never found. The boy was treated at a local hospital for four puncture wounds to his side.
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7/16/07 A woman and her two dogs were jumped by two coyotes while walking in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The coyotes bit and injured one of her dogs and lunged at the other.
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4/28/10 Texas Gov. Rick Perry was jogging with his daughter's Labrador retriever puppy when the dog was charged by a coyote. Luckily Perry had a .308 Ruger pistol along with him and he killed the coyote with one shot. Perry regularly carries his pistol loaded with hollow points to dispatch snakes. "Don't attack my dog or you might get shot … if you're a coyote," Perry later told the Associated Press.
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5/29/09 A coyote snuck into an Oregon family's fenced backyard and attacked their two Labrador retrievers. One dog was bit in the neck and died while the other one escaped by hiding in its dog house.
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1981 A toddler was left by her mother in their living room to watch cartoons, but the girl left through the front door of the family's Glendale, California home. A coyote was waiting in the driveway, and attacked the girl, dragging her through the street. The girl's father chased the coyote off, but she later died at the hospital from her injuries. It is the only recorded fatal coyote attack in the United States. After the attack officials implemented 80 days of leghold trapping and shooting within a 0.5-mile radius of the attack site. They trapped and shot 55 coyotes
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6/28/10 A coyote attacked a 12-year-old girl in Spring Valley, California. The coyote jumped on the girl and ripped her shirt. Thee girl kicked the coyote hard in the stomach and it ran off. The attack occurred just one block away from a middle school.
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5/20/2008 A 71-year-old Florida man was walking his dog when he felt a tug on the leash. He turned around to find a coyote had his dog Chugger by the back. The man, Donie Hyer, tried to separate the two animals and began wrestling with the coyote. He was able to recover his dog but he broke his foot and suffered several bites and scratches during the struggle.