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Coyotes kill woman on hike in Canadian park

Started by citizen k, October 29, 2009, 03:55:38 AM

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Malthus

Coyotes maul folksinger? Woah, now that was some biting criticism.

Seriously though, that's about as weird as being mauled to death by raccoons. I've seen coyotes dozens of times - they are quite common in this part of the world, and generally considered totally harmless (well, harmless to adults - as with any wild animal, you gotta watch out for the kiddies; and they will eat cats and little yapper dogs).
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Malthus

This strikes me as utter bullshit:

QuoteBancroft, a retired biologist with Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources, said it's possible the coyotes thought Mitchell was a deer or other prey.

Sure they thought she was "prey"; no way did they mistake her for a deer.  :rolleyes:
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Eddie Teach

Quote from: Caliga on October 29, 2009, 07:22:59 AM
the local semi-feral cats Meow Machine and MeanCat.  :(

You have a gift for names.
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

Josephus

A folk singer whose last name is Mitchell, Canadian even, gets mauled by a coyote.

Song's been done before, sorry miss.

I looked a Coyote right in the face
On the road to Baljennie near my old home town.
He went runnin' through the whisker wheat
Chasing some prize down.
And a hawk was playing with him.
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes.
He had those same eyes just like yours -
Under your dark glasses,
Privately probing the public rooms,
Peeking through keyholes in numbered doors
Where the players lick their wounds,
And take their temporary lovers
And their pills and powders to get them through this passion play.
No regrets, Coyote,
I just get off up away.
You just picked up a hitcher,
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway.
---Joni Mitchell

Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

KRonn

Quote from: Caliga on October 29, 2009, 07:22:59 AM
Yeah, I remember reading an article a few years back that coyotes had returned to Mass., but I never saw or heard one there.  They're all over the place here, though.  I suspect they have something to do with the recent unexplained disappearance of the local semi-feral cats Meow Machine and MeanCat.  :(
They're all over the place here in Massachusetts. I've never seen one, or not sure if it was a coyote or not. But I notice a lot fewer small animals in the neighborhood - squirrels, rabbits, skunks, so I've assumed that coyotes were taking some toll on those. One of my neighbors has seen a coyote on our street at night, and other town residents have seen them. I've had friends in other towns who have seen them also.

viper37

Quote from: Malthus on October 29, 2009, 07:53:25 AM
Seriously though, that's about as weird as being mauled to death by raccoons. I've seen coyotes dozens of times - they are quite common in this part of the world, and generally considered totally harmless (well, harmless to adults - as with any wild animal, you gotta watch out for the kiddies; and they will eat cats and little yapper dogs).
same here.  Seen coyotes a few times, heard them more often.  They usually flee from us.

Quote from: Malthus on October 29, 2009, 07:55:47 AM
This strikes me as utter bullshit:
Sure they thought she was "prey"; no way did they mistake her for a deer.  :rolleyes:
Maybe a baby deer :P

Actually, I think these animals have a good sense of smell, so it's highly unlikely they thought she was something else than human.  Most likely, the animals were starving, for one reason or another.
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

Malthus

Quote from: viper37 on October 29, 2009, 09:04:07 AM
Actually, I think these animals have a good sense of smell, so it's highly unlikely they thought she was something else than human.  Most likely, the animals were starving, for one reason or another.

Yup, my impression is that they have excellent senses - good eyesight as well as sense of smell - and they are generally considered pretty clever animals. No way would they "mistake" a person for a deer.

The reason why coyotes don't generally attack people is because they are smart enough to fear the consequenses - generally, being hunted down and killed. Coyotes are very aware that humans are top predators. They can live right next to people and hide well enough that you will rarely see them.

However, some animals, like some people, are just psycho. You get the occasional one who thinks they can go for it. It's pretty damn rare though.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Caliga

Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 29, 2009, 07:57:27 AM
Quote from: Caliga on October 29, 2009, 07:22:59 AM
the local semi-feral cats Meow Machine and MeanCat.  :(

You have a gift for names.
:cool:

Meow Machine literally used to meow nonstop as soon as s/he'd see me.  Very friendly little critter.  MeanCat, due to the nature of its coat (a grayish tabby pattern) always had a mean look on its face, but wasn't actually mean.
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Barrister

Plenty of coyotes around here - see 'em on the road (the Alaska Highway) every once in a while on my way to work.  But then we have lots of everything up here.  :Canuck:
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

Razgovory

Probably thought she was a vampire or something.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

DisturbedPervert

Damn.  Why couldn't it have been a fat chick? 

DisturbedPervert

There were tons of coyotes where I grew up, but the only thing they ate was cats

crazy canuck

Makes me wonder whether these were actually coyotes. 

QuotePolice who were in the area reached the scene quickly and shot one of the animals, apparently wounding it. But the wounded animal and a companion coyote managed to get away.

Caliga

Yeah.  It's very hard for me to imagine a coyote being able to kill an adult even if it wanted to.  A few months ago I saw a YouTube video that was called something like "I feed a sandwich to a really tame coyote at a truck stop" and the animal on the video was, as far as I could tell, a red wolf.
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Maximus

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.