BOSTON —
High school sophomore Jed Aubertin took his dog for a walk down a dirt trail in late February, and a coyote attacked him.

“I didn’t have time to square off with it,” Aubertin said. “I went for my knife, but it was already in the air at my neck.”Coyote attacks on humans are considered rare, but they can be vicious when they happen, like the bite on a 2-year-old girl’s head in Weymouth or on 9-year-old Alex Cazmay in Haverhill.

“I thought it was a dog,” Cazmay said. “That’s why I put my hand out. Then, it bit me.”

Often it’s the smaller animals, like rabbits, running into trouble when it’s a one-on-one fight. In farmer Tyler Kimball’s case, a pack of coyotes made a meal out of his $1,200 buffalo.

“And when I see a coyote, I am going to shoot him,” Kimball said.

Each of these stories happened in the last year in Massachusetts or New Hampshire.

Then, there was the wild run at the Ted Williams Tunnel. A coyote on the loose scampered through the Big Dig.

If it seems like they’re showing up everywhere these days, it’s because they are.

“Even if you haven’t seen coyotes in your area, it’s best to assume that they could be in your yard,” said Laura Conlee of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

Wildlife biologists estimate the summer population in Massachusetts will hold steady at about 10,000, including their pups.

Conlee says more coyotes show up in Eastern Mass because there’s so much to eat in the suburbs.

Things like rabbits and unsecured garbage are popular with the animal.
“They are opportunistic and omnivorous so they will eat whatever is easiest and most abundant,” Conlee said.

Coyotes are very territorial, especially in late winter months. Dogs, and in rare cases small children, can be confused as competition or prey.

“If people see coyotes, it’s important not to harass them. Never ever feed them,” said Conlee.

Biologists suggest making a lot of noise to scare them. Or, if it’s too late, as it was for Aubertin, fight back.

“He kept jumping at my throat, so I kept hitting him right in the teeth,” Aubertin said.

Wildlife officials said the best thing you can do to protect your pets, especially smaller ones, is to keep them leashed and supervised.

Author: mkmcst

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