Coyotes kill woman on hike in Canadian park

[Barrister]

A single coyote, yeah, I don't see how they could take down a person.  A pack though would be possible.

I don't know why you'd doubt it to be a coyote though.  The only thing that might look like a coyote is a fox, which has similar issues re: size in taking down a person.

There's no chance you mistake a coyote for a wolf though - much bigger.  Plus I have doubts there are any wolves on Cape Breton.

[Caliga]

Coyotes are scavengers and small game hunters. As far as I'm aware it is very unusual for them to even attack something as large as a deer unless it's sick/wounded.

Well, a chick who lives in my town found a coyote in her yard a few years back trying to corner a deer in her garden.  She yelled for her husband to "do something" and he got his shotgun and attempted to fire a warning shot over the coyote's head, but hit it instead.  It still managed to get away, though.  Anyhoo Bambi was saved.

[Barrister]

Coyotes are scavengers and small game hunters. As far as I'm aware it is very unusual for them to even attack something as large as a deer unless it's sick/wounded.

Well, a chick who lives in my town found a coyote in her yard a few years back trying to corner a deer in her garden.  She yelled for her husband to "do something" and he got his shotgun and attempted to fire a warning shot over the coyote's head, but hit it instead.  It still managed to get away, though.  Anyhoo Bambi was saved.

Should've let the coyote eat it.  There are too many damn deer down south as it is.

(not here though - this is caribou country)

[Caliga]

A single coyote, yeah, I don't see how they could take down a person.  A pack though would be possible.

I don't know why you'd doubt it to be a coyote though.  The only thing that might look like a coyote is a fox, which has similar issues re: size in taking down a person.

There's no chance you mistake a coyote for a wolf though - much bigger.  Plus I have doubts there are any wolves on Cape Breton.

Aren't Red Wolves only a little bit larger than Coyotes?

[Caliga]

Should've let the coyote eat it.  There are too many damn deer down south as it is.

(not here though - this is caribou country)

She's one of those "sensitive" types.    Never had kids, has tons of pets.  Probably supports PETA.  Cute animals = good.  'Mean' animals = DEV0L.

[Barrister]

A single coyote, yeah, I don't see how they could take down a person.  A pack though would be possible.

I don't know why you'd doubt it to be a coyote though.  The only thing that might look like a coyote is a fox, which has similar issues re: size in taking down a person.

There's no chance you mistake a coyote for a wolf though - much bigger.  Plus I have doubts there are any wolves on Cape Breton.

Aren't Red Wolves only a little bit larger than Coyotes?

I dunno - never seen one.  A quick wiki check says they are inbetween a coyote and a grey wolf, but also that they are "critically endangered" with only 100 surviving in the wild.

[crazy canuck]

A single coyote, yeah, I don't see how they could take down a person.  A pack though would be possible.

Only two coyotes were seen there.

I am wondering whether she was attacked by something else or something else happened to her first (like she fell and injured herself) and then the coyotes came to investigate.

[ulmont]

Aren't Red Wolves only a little bit larger than Coyotes?

More or less.  Looks like coyotes and red wolves interbreed as well.  But there aren't a lot of red wolves around.
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/red_wolf.php

[Admiral Yi]

Hey Valmy, how much contact do you have with wild pigs?  Read an article in the Atlantic that said they're pretty thick on the ground in Tejas.

[Valmy]

Hey Valmy, how much contact do you have with wild pigs?  Read an article in the Atlantic that said they're pretty thick on the ground in Tejas.

We call them javelinas and yeah they are everywhere down here but you don't see them very often just the destruction they tend to wreck on people's expensive manicured lawns.  Austin is full of javelinas, deer (all over the freaking place in the suburbs they just walk around eating, again, people's lawns), raccoons, possums, bats, armadillos and so forth.  If you go a little outside the city there are coyotes everywhere you can hear them howl at night.  Really freaks children out.

It is illegal to hunt within the city limits so you can only smile and wave at our menagerie of urban mammals.

[viper37]

Coyotes are scavengers and small game hunters. As far as I'm aware it is very unusual for them to even attack something as large as a deer unless it's sick/wounded.

not so unusual.
It depends on how much they're hungry, and how many of them are in the area.

Coyotes won't attack a deer or a human, but if they're in a pack, they will strike.  A few years ago, there were lots of snow, and lots of deer too.  It was not unusual for Coyotes to attack the deers as they were slowed by the heavy snow, there were lots of them, and the small time animals had an easier time hiding in the thick snow.

[viper37]

Only two coyotes were seen there.

could be there was more than two and the others already fled, or where chased away.

[Malthus]

Hey Valmy, how much contact do you have with wild pigs?  Read an article in the Atlantic that said they're pretty thick on the ground in Tejas.

Don't think he goes to those sorts of bars any more.

[Valmy]

Coyotes are cowards which is why they thrive while more aggressive predators have been long since exterminated.

[crazy canuck]

Only two coyotes were seen there.

could be there was more than two and the others already fled, or where chased away.

Also possible.