Posted on 05/05/2008 11:23:18 AM PDT by kingattax
CHINO HILLS, Calif. — A nanny pulled a 2-year-old girl from the jaws of a coyote when the animal attacked the toddler and tried to carry her away in its mouth, officials said.
The girl was playing Friday in a sandbox at Alterra Park in Chino Hills in San Bernardino County. Around 10:30 a.m., the caretaker heard screaming and saw a coyote trying to carry the child off in its mouth, officials said.
The babysitter grabbed the child and pulled her from the coyote's grasp, the sheriff's department said in a statement.
The coyote then ran off into nearby brush.
The child suffered wounds to her buttocks and was taken to Chino Valley Medical Center and was later released, director of nursing Anne Marie Robertson said. She was later transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center to receive the rabies vaccine.
San Bernardino County Animal Control and the State Department of Fish and Game were searching for the animal, Wiltshire said.
Miller said there was another attack in the area in October when a coyote bit a 3-year-old girl playing in a cul-de-sac. The girl needed treatment for puncture wounds to the head and thigh, Miller said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I hope the coyote wasn’t hurt /california
Those neat, black, mean lookin' spaceman rifles shoot pretty well, I'll say. Let's eliminate the problem.
Ah for the days when there was a bounty on coyote tails
If you’re 2 years old and are going to get grabbed by a coyote the buttocks is the best place.
...and global-warming (aka climate change).
I bet the Nanny was jibberjabbing on the cell phone while Wile E Coyote snuck up on the kid.
My thoughts exactly. Well, perhaps not to eloquently. :-)
But why on earth were the Nanny's eyes off the child long enough for the coyote to get that close?
where’ the large, talking sheepdog when you need him?
where’s the large, talking sheepdog when you need him?
I wonder if the nanny is an illegal immigrant. If so, march her to the courhouse and reward her with citizenship ASAP.
Where’s Lassie when you need her? Lassie would have chased off that coyote before the humans even knew what was happening!
Not trying to belittle this story, but it keeps getting more dramatic with every report. First story said the kid had a bite on the butt and the coyote ran away when the nanny screamed. The next story reported the coyote tried to drag the child away. Now this one claims the nanny had to rip the kid out of the coyote’s mouth. Next we’ll hear the nanny fought off a pack of wolves. Perhaps the news drones spicing up the story for ratings?
wait until they make a weekly TV series out of it
“The misunderstood coyote was displaying passion, not rage.” - Rosie O’Donnell
I used to deer hunt on Farmer’s land who only had one condition with regard to letting responsible hunters use his land. We had to agree that we would shoot any coyote we may see - even if it meant spooking any deer which may be around.
lol...thats very funny
what’s your best guess about how many coyotes it would take to drag rosie o’donut off ?
That little girl should get rabies shots. It seems unusual for a single coyote to attack a human in a populated area. The coyotes in the woods behind my home are pretty skittish when they see humans.
Every kid should have one of these...
I'm pretty much at a loss to explain it, other than powerful herding and protection instincts, but my Timber, who died last summer, had a general affinity for children and would protect them passionately from any perceived threat, even against the worst odds. I suspect a coyote would've had a pretty hard tiem getting near a kid with him around.
Arnold SchwarzeNanny?
"You want us on the endangered species list overnight, pal?"
He’s in my yard. We don’t have a coyote within five miles anymore.
My first few months at my present country home saw me shoot 6 or so coyotes scoping out the back yard where my children and dog would play. After leaving the carcasses laying back by the woods when shot, they quit hanging around.
Sorry to hear that.
Hate to see them go.
I always get a new one, after a respectful interlude.
I still have a younger one that I rescued from the NO area after Katrina...he’s a great dog in his own right, but I’ve been around dogs my whole life, mostly GSDs, and I can honestly say that Timber was a once in a lifetime dog.
“...and global-warming (aka climate change).”
In the Seattle area there have been a few bear sightings in neighborhoods to the east. And it IS due to the weather. They are waking up to TOO MUCH snow and are moving downhill (and into the subdivisions) looking for food.
You dog was very beautiful...You must miss him greatly.
The german shepard is called the prince of dogs for a reason.
It’s been my privilege to have had two once in a lifetime dogs. You never know.
That nanny would have a job for life if that were my baby!
It’s hard to fill a 115 pound hole in your life.
lol
Yes I know. I raised dobersmans for many years & still miss those dogs. Timber must have been a wonderful dog. I am very sorry for your loss of him. It took me a long time to stop feeling sad over my dogs. I still cry when I look at pictures & its been over 10 years for one of them & 12 for the other. Pandy
If there were wolves around, there wouldn't be a coyote problem. Just wait a few years.
Political correctness run amok.Our spineless, gutless politicians have given more rights to the coyote then to citizens. Time to have a “coyote hunt!”
That’s a real bite in the A$$.
Glad the kid is ok..
I doubt that coyote populations are any higher today than ten years ago in urban and semi-urban areas; what's different is that they have no fear of man because stupid laws prevent people in semi-urban areas from killing them. Naturally the coyotes are becoming more aggressive. Coyotes are damned smart. All it would take would be to shoot a few of them around that park where this happened (another attack was reported in Chino Hills a day or two after this one), and they'd figure out to keep their distance. They'd still be around, but they'd forget going after human kids because they know they'd die for trying.
For what it's worth, I have two beautiful coyote pelts in my home. :^) Great lap warmers when the weather gets cold!
I have one of these in my back yard, presently.
In that part of the country, semi-urban Chino Hills, coyotes are so adept at camoflaging into the hillsides that you would not believe it until you saw it, and I have seen it plenty. They wait in ambush where they are virtually invisible. I doubt the coyote "snuck" up on anything. It attacked faster than lightening from a nearby hiding place. The critters are extremely smart and brazen. Very, very brazen in semi-urban areas where they suffer no serious consequences (like getting SHOT DEAD ON SIGHT) for attacking little humans or humans' pets in broad daylight, which happens more than you'd think. The ones around here (semi-rural So Cal) feed voraciously on pets. They wouldn't if people could shoot the enough of the damned things to make them keep their distance.
They are pretty critters, aren’t they? And intelligent, too. I see them often and always feel bad about the prospect of them getting shot, but I also realize that killing a few coyotes in the short run will probably save a LOT of coyotes in the long run because they’d learn quickly to keep their distance from humans. There’d be just as many as there ever were, but they’d lay low and stay out of trouble and continue a pretty useful role in urban areas, where they eat pests like rats.
Okay then, that changes the question to "Why on earth was the Nanny so far away from the child?"
Have you ever been up close to a coyote that was uncaged and roaming free? Have you ever seen one melt into the hillside and disappear 15 feet away from you? Are you familiar with the topography and brush in a typical Southern California semi-rural park? It's easy to judge the nanny harshly if you have no knowledge of these things. I hold the nanny blameless because of where and how I live and grew up and I've seen how coyote behavior toward humans is very different in places like ranches where they get SHOT if they take stupid chances. Nannies and parents should be able to allow toddlers to play in peace in their yards or in a public park without having to hover withing a two-foot distance in case a coyote is hiding in the brush waiting to snatch the kid away. The nanny is not to blame here. What's to blame are stupid laws that prevent people from killing coyotes that threaten humans.
I give her the benefit of the doubt. A nanny who is willing to rip a child out of a coyote’s mouth is probably not a slacker.
Do you feel like your adopted dog operates independently of you, not part of the ‘homestead’?
I adopted a wolf couple years ago who fit right in until she started decorating the yard with other people’s livestock.
There are definitely more coyotes in my area. They didn’t exist around here 10 years ago. I’m 10 minutes from downtown in a major city. They have spread through the area as former railroad lines have been converted into hiking trails. We have coyotes, foxes and a lot of large predatory birds. The DNR even found a wolf carcass about 2 miles away — closer to the city.
The coyotes have taken up residence in a 30 acre woods between an apartment complex and a busy residential and retail area. Ours tend to be very wary. This is a blue collar area and I have no doubt that an aggressive coyote would be shot by the police, if not by a threatened homeowner.
I still feel that the animal that attacked was rabid just because our local poodle-eaters wait until people are gone before they target Fifi. I can’t recall an attack that was actually witnessed by a person. Yes, a coyote would attack an unattended baby, but it seems unlikely that one would target a kid with an adult close by.
If the coyotes are willing to target humans, then they need to be hunted until they relearn their respect for the top predator.
Fair enough.
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