coyote attack in Cape Breton

a young woman was attacked in the highland National Park in CB.. she's in critial condition in Hlfx... I thought those buggers were timid.. guess not! We have a few hanging around our place.. on Sunday nite something was attacked out in the back field.. what a noise.. Hubby went to check it out but found nothing.. makes me NOT to want to walk in the woods now..
Hoping the young woman does ok..

I just heard on the news that the young girl died. :( She was hiking by herself! That trail is amazing...I'm from Cheticamp and many a time we've hiked it. There are always moose, grouse and coyotes...so I would NEVER hike it alone. Sad sad

oh no.. I was hoping she would recover.. what a shame.. now that's not good for the coyotes now.. they will be hunted and shot on sight.. I find it hard to believe that they actually did this.. not in their character I wouldn't think.. they are so timid.. at least the one hanging around our place is.. Hubby says up where he hunts the coyotes travel in packs and hunt down their prey, deer, rabbits etc.. by working together just like the wolves..

Scary stuff....
That is so scary..

they were still around when the RCMP came by the assist........one still wanted to take on the Mountie, which is NOT NORMAL for them.........maybe a rabies thing???????? who knows....we dont have rabies on the island, but this is something that has to be looked at.

Our coyotes around here are in packs just like wolves, they are quite a bit bigger than your average coyote and hunt together for sure.

I'm sure thats where I lost Stripey, Zig and Zag .......they went out and never came back...........but Bear and Sam stay in around the barn and house and do not go out to chase them...........ITS A STAND AND GUARD AND BARK AND HOWL face off...........its quite amusing sitting in the house listening to the pups voice change............hahahahaha..............

sorry off topic............I had not heard that the lady had died, am really sorry to hear that....

They're miserable animals and I'd be very happy if we could shot them legally year round especially after an incident like that.

They are quite large around here and unfortunately on PEI the wildlife they can eat is fairly limited so farm animals/dogs/cats become far more inticing.

I don't go anywhere at night without our Aussie, Lena - not that she could save me but she might bark or get her hair up and give me a head start on running.

Joan our Coyotes are big too.. the one I saw in our front yard was bigger than I've seen before.. and they hunt in packs as well up at our camp.. Greg actually watched them in action on day he was out.. scarey critters..

they are the top of the food chain on this side of the island.......there are no bigger predators, and there is lots to eat so they simply keep mulitplying.........why would they be afraid....

Very scary! I just can't imagine something like this happening.

This summer Jason and I were picking chanterelle mushrooms on a wooded dirt road. Jason was cutting them with the knife and I was sitting there quietly brushing the dirt off of them off with a paint brush. Jason brought me a pile to clean and said, "LOOK!" there were 3 baby coyotes watching me only 20 feet away! They ran off so fast that by the time I turned my head they were gone, but their paw prints were all over the sandy road. As we continued walking, Jason seen the mother, but again, I didn't look fast enough! When we're out picking mushrooms, I'm looking at the ground, not in the bushes!

It would be so easy for them to get you. She should not have been out there alone that's for sure.

I am thinking that these coyotes might be crossed with domestic dogs. It does happen and they would be less likely to have that ingrained fear of people.

Don't under estimate the coyote.. they are no longer the way used to be small timid creatures.. yes they have crossed with domestic dogs and have grown bigger faster and smarter. I've been told that Nova Scotia is the only place where the coyotes hunt in packs and work together.. so they are up there with the wolves.. Kind of scarey because there is a lot of them around.. years ago there was a bounty on them.. they may do that again if the problem with them increases as do their numbers..

I think that sometime ago there a bounty for them on PEI as well...

Quote :

but Bear and Sam stay in around the barn and house and do not go out to chase them...........ITS A STAND AND GUARD AND BARK AND HOWL face off...........its quite amusing sitting in the house listening to the pups voice change............hahahahaha..............

I have heard that the pack will hide silently, but send one female out of the woods to entice pet dogs back into the woods with them, where the pack will then kill it...

I am sure and older dog like Bear may be wise to this, but a younger dog like Sam, especially if outside alone without Bear, may fall for the bait...
Just a thought to remember...


This is pretty freaky stuff.... Last year a couple women walking their dog(s) were attacked on a closed road by Wolves... Can't remember where that was though....

THANKS T.C. I was worried about Sam when he first came......but Bear really did teach him well.........the pup will not go off the end of the driveway and will only do his GUARD HOWL from the front porch and lawn............methinks there is a little chicken behind that big voice.......thank goodness......

That is so true i see one try in broad day light at a friends farm it was a female trying to entice there dog to go with her and was playing submissive to him be thank gods he ignored her and a friend down the rod let his dog out for a pee and went back after a few minutes and he was gone and herd her the pack go nuts.. they use to come right into his yard
scary animals I thought I read some where there was a horse attacked over in PEI???

It wouldn't surprise me if a horse was attacked around here...

Coyotes sit on our manure pile but given we run our horses in a herd they tend not to cross our fence line and we keep the Minis near the barn.

A guy we know has sheep and the coyotes were killing them off one by one - killing for fun too not actually eatting them. He decided to stay in the barn one night and get rid of the coyote. He dozed off and woke up to a coyote killing a ewe next to him.

I for one would NEVER have the courage to stay in a barn that coyotes were coming in... it makes me ill even thinking how that poor girl must have felt being attacked...

no, it certainly is not the way I would want to go either........I have a really solid cane that I take with me if I walk the dogs along with my two way radio....even if we are going trail riding......Ed always knows where we are going and how long we think we will be........it just makes sense not to take chances........I know there are folks that think I go a little over the top with my emergency kits etc, but I would rather be thought excentric than careless...........

Taken from CBC...

Quote :

A provincial wildlife biologist is assuring people that the odds of a coyote attacking a human in P.E.I. are rare.

Randy Dibblee said he's been hearing a lot of concern following the death of a 19-year-old woman in Nova Scotia after she was attacked by two coyotes.

Taylor Josephine Stephanie Luciow, a Toronto folk singer who went by the stage name Taylor Mitchell, was walking alone on a trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park when she was attacked.

She died Wednesday morning in Halifax of her injuries.

Dibblee said the coyotes in the Nova Scotia park have likely lost their fear of humans because they aren't hunted. He said that's not the case in P.E.I., where coyotes are hunted and trapped.

"I wish to allay people's fears of walking in the woods and I always tell them to enjoy their walks in the woods and fields of P.E.I.," he said.

"You have nothing to fear from coyotes. You certainly have more to fear from your neighbour's dog than you do from coyotes."

Dibblee said if anyone is ever confronted by a coyote, the best thing to do is stand your ground. He said the odds of such a confrontation happening are very rare.

I don't much like this article... it is correct in saying that coyotes are shot and trapped here on PEI but they sure aren't timid and fearful of us. Especially when they get hungry. I think it is giving people a false sense of security.

I ought to bring this biologist out to camp on our manure pile for the evening. I bet his comments might sound a little different when the coyotes are done with him.

umm doesn't change my mind about trusting one.. we have them right on our lawn at night and in the back field.. so you won't catch me out there alone unless I have a knife and my hand gun..

I hate the freaking things! We haven't had a lot of trouble with them coming up to the barn as I have my two newfoundland dogs.. But we hear them, my female gets quite worked up, her hair stands up and she growls. But my guys are locked in at night I would never take the chance of something happening to them. I wouldnt' worry if it were one or two but a pack would sure get rid of them in a hurry..

That poor girl, what a way to go... AWEFUL...

I wonder if they would attack your horse if you were on a trail ride by yourself or not...I'm originally from Cape Breton.....Sydney area but a bit in the boonies....Anyway we always went on trail rides and I never ever seen a coyote, I seen the odd deer.....But it never entered my mind that trail riding could be dangerous....WE went like at least 3 times a week and we always took the dog(Shepard)..I guess I always thought if anything ever arized we would be bigger then them..Now i'm not to sure!!!!

Now I am in Moncton and I board just on the outskirts and my guy is just young so I haven't ventured in the woods but i'll tell you i'm not going alone..I think now that I am older I am a big chicken...

Maybe if I go in the woods i'll take this guy with me.. :devil5.gif:

Wissy wrote:

I've been told that Nova Scotia is the only place where the coyotes hunt in packs and work together..

Where I'm from in Ontario (Niagara Region, think Niagara Falls ) the coyotes are bold and hunt in packs. The farm I worked on had a large 120 ish lb rottiXhuskyXgerman pointer very large could be very scary (but a big ole chicken thistle with people) The coyotes would come into our front paddock and lure him out, we knew they what they were doing he'd go then you'd here him bark and growl and a scuffle would start. He has always protected the barn adn done a good job defendeding himself. Never any injuries.

I remember hacking out on the trail one day (2 of us) and I turned around to see 2 following us about 20 feet behind my horse. We couldnt figure out why the horses were so batty on that ride. Cherry didn't much care for the dogs so when it woudn't stop following I turned him around faced the coyote and charged at it running it into the bush. I figured that would be enough to scare it away, but by the time I turned again it was back. we ended up breaking some decent sized brances off some trees and rode home holding those. We hacked for a few minutes more down the road before we saw the rest of the pack, probaby 5 or 6 of them and one was about the same size as the dog HUGE!
This was on a fairly busy road around suppertime now it was summer so it was still very bright out at the time.

My boss had also awoken many nights to find them lookng in the windows of her house from her porch. I'm surprised the most we ever lost was a chicken and she came back bruised and missing some feathers but not dead

OMG i hate the things.. they do the same thing to my Sheppard,they sit there watching her to see if she will follow her back into the woods.
I have my doubts that they would attack a horse, like Joan said there is no shortage of food for
them, so many smaller animals around, to try and tackle a horse.
They have taken calves right off there mother at the farm down the road.
I think if you have a farm and they are attacking animals i think you are allowd to shoot them.

oh you can shoot them if they attack....but I think there is still a bounty on them but with traps........thats when I get upset........because you have no idea where the traps are and you know what your dogs are like when you go for a walk in the bush.......

I feel so bad for this girl and her family, what a horrible tragedy! - having said that - I'm afraid I fear fools with guns and leg hold traps in the woods much more than I fear the attack of a feral coyote.....we live in a wilderness country - we dress it up, and electrify it, but it is wilderness....guess the animals didn't get the memo....I bet they will find one of 2 things, the animal was rabid, or it was fed all summer by tourists to the point it no longer had fear of humans....and sees humans as a source of food. (As are cats, which is why even our barn cat is locked in at night......)!