Coyotes kill hiker in Nova Scotia

Read an article this morning about a 19 year old girl that was out hiking and was attacked by 2 coyotes. She died a couple hours later, said the coyotes mistaked her for a deer or other prey.
Just was wondering if anyone has heard of coyotes attacking people before. Kinda think that being up in Nova Scotia that coyotes arent used to seeing people had something to do with it.

Its a shocking story,never heard of these type of attacks before,one theory is that some of these animals are cross- breeding with wolves.

There have been a few cases of small children/babies being attacked here in the States. We have reached the point where you should not be in the woods without a gun. Do Gooder eviro-nuts have repopulated too many predators. Coyote,wolves,larger cats, plus feral animals. JMHO

Actually, it could be the other way around. It's a well-known and well-used trail up on Cape Breton. More likely, the coyotes are all too accustomed to humans and have lost their fear of them.

never, im up to my eyeballs in coyotes out here no reported attacks on humans in over 100 years even in a pack, much less 2 of them, they are relitivly snall in size and will
haul butt whan they see or smell a human, of course shooting them on sight as we do may have them that way lol, also a coyote has one of the keenest sences of smell of any animal, they never "mistake" one prey for another, my guess on the story is it will turn out to be possibly wolves, but far more likly wolf/dog hybreds the later is by far the most dangerous if running on its own you have a good size animal with the hunting instincts of a wolf with the ability to inneract with humans like a dog, thats one dangerous situation

Our coyotes here in the east have been interbreeding with dogs for years, to the point that they're sometimes referred to as coydogs. They vary some from region to region but they've generally gotten quite large, nothing approaching the size of a wolf but definitely in the German Shepherd range, with bushy coats and tails. They've kept the high-pitched voice and the stiff-legged running gait of the coyote. We had one loner in our neighborhood in the Catskills. I caught him a couple of times watching me from a distance.

I agree though, the problem with the dog blood in them might lend them having less fear of humans, or at least more of a leaning to overcoming that fear than a pure coyote, if there are even any of them left up in this part of the country.

Still, any animal can lose that fear if there's enough contact with humans. It's often associated with the food we leave around, and I'd suspect some of that along a popular hiker's trail. Still talking about the Catskills, we had a big black bear boar who denned up on the mountain we were on and he had a path to a sleep-away camp about a mile up the valley from us where he'd raid the dumpster on a regular basis, while the campers hung around and snapped pictures. I recall well being up by the barn one day when he came strolling down a tote road that came out of the woods. With one exception, all I'd ever seen of bears in the woods was their hind end scooting away after they'd seen me first. Not his fellow. I figured he hadn't seen me, so I hollered and gave a big wave. He never startled or ran. He never indicated he'd charge at me, but he changed his path to come down toward me. I had the pickup up there and could have gotten in and away from him if I'd had to, but I just reached in and gave a few blasts of the horn, which wasn't enough to give him a start, but he did go back to his path up toward the place with the dumpster.

Of course it didn't help any that our back line bordered the state land that makes up the Catskill Forest, which is a destination for problem bears transported from further downstate.

Coyotes or bears, I never worried about the simple fact of them being around, but one that hangs around or doesn't skedaddle when I look them in the eye even over a distance is worrisome.

Several coyote attacks in the Denver metro area in the past several years.
Coyotes adapt to their surrounding very fast.

always carry at least my ruger 22, most of the time theyll scat, especialy when im on a 4 wheeler but i have killed them for approaching me

When we moved into this house in 1989, the elderly neighbor man's granddaughter and her family moved in to 'help' him-that is another story, for another time. They had a dog that was half coyote and half german shepherd. Not only was he aggressive, he did not like dudes! Could not trust him any further than you could throw him. His favorite toy was a rock the size of a football-he would 'toss' this thing all around the yard! Greg

Don't think it will be wolves. Wolves don't want anything to do with people. At one time the Hudson Bay Fur company (may be defunct now) had a $1,000,000 reward for anyone who could substantiate an unprovoked wolf attack.

My opinion - Since wolves generally do not want anything to do with people, coyotes cross breeding with wolves wouldn't be nearly as much a cause for concern as crossing with dogs. I've always been told there's nothing more dangerous than a pack of dogs because dogs don't fear humans. A cross with a dog, could mean an animal that didn't fear humans and that could be a problem.

Coyotes in our areas (Dallas & NE Tx) have adapted and hunt at all hours. Have seen them at midday (10:00) and hear them at night.

Only got close to a couple - one because we were standing still and quiet next to a big round bale. When the coyote realized we were there, he high-tailed it big-time. The other time a pair was out with their nearly grown cubs. When the adults spotted us, they hurried out of sight, but one of the cubs sat down in the trail and looked at us. With that attitude, doubt that one survived very long.

They shot one of the coyotes today and sent it to the lab for a necroposy. Check for rabies, etc.
Never foud the other one. Probably never will...

I'd dare say these animals have just lost their fear of people. That's a popular trail and no doubt lots of people leave food lying around...
We've had coyotes in the barn in the morning when we go to milk. I can remember one that was none too fast to boogie either. I damn near got him with the shovel...
.243 is an excellent solution tho.

These coyotes are not small. They're the size of a shepherd, and a good sized one at that. They're very able animals.
Their introduction to the Cape Breton Highlands was carried out by DNR in the late 70's to control the rabbit population that was destroying tree plantations. Today, DNR will deny this until hell freezes over, but it was fairly common knowledge at the time. That's why we have coyotes here...

Rod

They brought coyotes in on a military base where I worked back in the 1979 or 1980. They were there to reduce the groundhog population. They were seen with groundhogs almost as big as they were. Never threatened any humans. They had plenty to eat since there a lot of deer there too. They may get more brazen when hungry. Hal

Nancy; Hudson Bay Co. is still in business, but it is basically just a retailer now...simial to Sears.

(quoted from post at 09:14:47 10/29/09) Read an article this morning about a 19 year old girl that was out hiking and was attacked by 2 coyotes. She died a couple hours later, said the coyotes mistaked her for a deer or other prey.
Just was wondering if anyone has heard of coyotes attacking people before. Kinda think that being up in Nova Scotia that coyotes arent used to seeing people had something to do with it.

Click to expand...

About what you can expect for a nation governed by urban gun hating liberals for the 40 of past 45 years. It's near impossible and quite expensive for anybody to take up firearm ownership and hunting in Canada.
The vast majority of the population Canada exist in 15 urban centers. However these experts after watching the Disney Channel, Oprah and the news media. Have decided to support politicians who prefer to have the general population disarmed.

I hear a pack of them yelping almost every night here in Western N. C. Then my dogs cut loose and sing along with them. I hardly ever see one in the daytime but I have on some occasions. One of my dogs has had a few confrontations with them but I have never lost a barncat to them. One day last winter a big one was sitting up on the hill in the snow watching my barn. Of course the beagle/spanial mix saw him and decided to engage his rather loud vocal cords and ran after him. The cyote just sat there still until the dog was within about 10 ft. and then he gave a chase. Of course the beagle ran like hell towards the barn until the coyote decided he was too close to civilization and he ran back and sat down. The dog went after him again and the exact same episode happened again. I decided that if the scoundrel was going to stay in plain sight I would get my 30 30 and try to lay him low. He was sitting there when I came back out and I got off a shot at about 100 yds but I missed. I took another couple of shots with him on the move but no luck. Another time I was on a morning hike in the mountains when my dog was up ahead of my barking and growling like he had seen a bear. The commotion stopped and I went on up the trail. I go around a deep curve in the trail and there comes my dog with his ears in the wind, running for his very life. A big grey coyote was about 5 ft behind him just about to have him for breakfast. I jumped and yelled and the coyote ran off through the woods like a bullet. My little buddy stayed very close to me the rest of the hike.