Coyotes kill singer on hike in Canadian park

TORONTO – Two coyotes attacked a promising young musician as she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.


The victim was identified as Taylor Mitchell, 19, a singer-songwriter from Toronto who was touring her new album on the East Coast.


She was hiking solo on a trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia on Tuesday when the attack occurred. She was airlifted to a Halifax hospital in critical condition and died Wednesday morning, authorities said.


Coyotes, which also are known as prairie wolves, are found from Central America to the United States and Canada.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091028/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_coyote_attack

Only two? I've never heard of coyotes attacking before and I would certainly think they would be in a bigger pack than 2, but I don't know. I was never in fear of them. I feel differently now!

ziggy said:

Only two? I've never heard of coyotes attacking before and I would certainly think they would be in a bigger pack than 2, but I don't know. I was never in fear of them. I feel differently now!

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Yeah this sounded VERY unusual! I don't think I have heard of an adult human being killed before, especially by only two. Very tragic.

And despite what happened I feel bad for the one that was shot and only injured, not killed.

May God comfort this young lady's family and friends.

I live in rural Manitoba near a Provincial Park and we have a lot of coyotes out here. There is a pack that lives on the other side of the river behind my house. In the winter it is particularly scary because they cross the frozen river and come up into the back yard. One day, my two dogs chased a couple of them in a field across the road in front of my house; the next morning, I saw a coyote standing in the backyard, looking at my dogs in their fenced-in dog run.

But-- I have never heard of a coyote attacking or killing a person. Usually, they are afraid of people and will only come near a house at night when people are inside. The local residents of the area do say that the coyotes have been breeding with wild dogs and have been developing more of an aggressive "pack mentality" which is a bit alarming.

The only reason coyotes would attack, IMO, would be if they are starving or if they were sick. And at this time of the year, food should be plentiful. Another possibility is that they had young coyotes nearby that they were protecting.

All I can say about this is that I feel sorry that this young woman died in such a terrible way. I would never go hiking alone ANYWHERE without my Karelian Bear Dogs accompanying me for protection. And when I am out walking with them, I avoid walking through dense brush or woods just in case a bear, wolf or coyote is nearby.

This story reminds me of an unfortunate incident that happened a few years ago in Northern Ontario where a woman and her husband went on a wilderness camping trip during bear season. They did not bring a rifle, and the woman was attacked and killed by a bear. It was sad, but there was not much the authorities could do to prevent it from occurring other than advising people to use caution when hiking or camping in parks or wilderness areas.

We have *coydogs* around here, I've been warned that they are a problem. According to wikipedia, this is why:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coydog

Coydog

"Wild coydogs and dogotes can cause problems for humans, as they allegedly have the infamous cunning of coyotes but lack their natural fear of humans."

IWannaKnow said:

We have *coydogs* around here, I've been warned that they are a problem. According to wikipedia, this is why:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coydog

Coydog

"Wild coydogs and dogotes can cause problems for humans, as they allegedly have the infamous cunning of coyotes but lack their natural fear of humans."

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Ya know that's enough to make some idiot want to breed them deliberately.

I was shocked about this young woman being killed. It will certainly alter how I look upon yotes.

When i was a teenager i used to be in the woods around them a lot. They never attacked once.
They will attack if food is scarce (winter time) or if their young is near and they feel threatened.
This seems like an anomaly.