Nanny Rips Baby Girl From Jaws of Coyote in California Sandbox

Associated Press ^ | May 03, 2008

[Finny]

There are lots and lots and lots of coyotes in urban areas throughout Southern Calfornia, which is where Chino Hills is located. They're very smart and extremely adaptable to human encroachment, and actually, it ISN'T unsual for them to attack a small human in a populated area, especially where they are never shot at or threatened and therefore have little reason to actually fear humans. They're wary and keep their distance from large humans as they do from any critter larger than themselves. But little kids are fair game.

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!

[blam]

I have one of these in my back yard, presently.

[Finny]

But why on earth were the Nanny's eyes off the child long enough for the coyote to get that close?

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.

[Finny]

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.

[Corin Stormhands]

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.

Okay then, that changes the question to "Why on earth was the Nanny so far away from the child?"

[Finny]

On the contrary, the nanny was CLOSE enough to be able to grab the kid out of the coyote's jaws. Understand that these coyotes have zero fear of humans, only a wariness. The presence of the nanny five or six feet away wouldn't be enough to cower a brazen coyote out of trying to ambush and snag a good meal like a toddler if the coyote figured it could drag the kid away fast enough. The coyote miscalculated the weight or cumbersomeness of the kid, is my guess. Coyotes are used to snatching small dogs and cats in broad daylight when their owners are close by. They have nothing to lose in trying -- they won't get shot.

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.

[Ezekiel]

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.

[txhurl]

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.

[MediaMole]

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.

[Corin Stormhands]

On the contrary, the nanny was CLOSE enough to be able to grab the kid out of the coyote's jaws.

Fair enough.

[Finny]

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.

Correct that to: you definitely see more coyotes in your area. There may or may not be more than there were ten years ago -- coyotes are masters of stealth. Like bobcats (only bobcats are REALLY REALLY GREAT masters of stealth), people think there are none in their areas because they never see them, which is the way it should be. If Wisconsin is like California and shooting of coyotes is frowned upon in urban and semi-urban areas, then you're going to see more of them because they've become not afraid of being seen by you. Maybe their populations are higher, maybe not. I've been told by California fish & game officials that coyotes are all over the place everywhere all the time, even in the middle of cities (our conversation was regarding Los Angeles), and that they're about the most adaptable "wild" animal around because they're so smart.

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.

In your part of Wisconsin, if a coyote attacked in daylight in the presence of humans, it may well be a sign of rabies. Ten years from now as your coyotes become less brazen becaue cops and people can't/don't shoot the aggressive ones, maybe a coyotate attacking during day around humans won't be so unusual and won't be a sign of rabies.

Here in Southern California, for the past 18 years that I know for sure, broad-daylight coyote attacks on toddlers and pets in the presence of adult humans are somewhat routine in certain areas. The behavior does not indicate rabies, though as with any wild animal bite, the victim gets rabies shots just to be safe. Now, if the animal had been a skunk or a possum or a specifically nocturnal critter that attacked and bit during the day, you bet your butt that's a sign of rabies. (incidentally, the rural California county where I grew up for decades had the highest incidence of rabid animals in the U.S., mostly spread by feral pigs in the coastal mountains, and you can bet we really watched for weird behaviour in bats and skunks especially).

Now on the coastal ranch in California where one of my brothers lives, hundreds of miles from any large cities, there are oodles of coyotes. Lots of them, and you see them -- from a long distance, never close, becuase they get SHOT if they're too close. If one of them attacked a pet or a toddler in the presence of a grown human, that would definitely raise concern of rabies.

If the coyotes are willing to target humans, then they need to be hunted until they relearn their respect for the top predator.

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT AGREED!!! :^)

[Finny]

Ten years from now as your coyotes become less brazen becaue cops and people can't/don't shoot the aggressive ones...

Er ... I meant MORE brazen.

[Ditto]

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.

According to some of the data I have read, you would need a highly concerted extermination campaign to have any lasting impact on their numbers.

Here's some information from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Would placing a bounty on coyotes help reduce their numbers?

Bounties were placed on coyotes in western states for decades and they didn't lead to any significant population reduction. The main reason was that about 70 percent of a coyote population has to be removed annually in order to cause a population decline. Even then, coyotes - like many other species - have demonstrated an ability to offset population declines by increasing their litter size. It's spurred by a built-in biological mechanism that responds to population deficits.

A bounty system has never successfully eliminated or significantly reduced coyote populations anywhere in North America. Coyotes have a superior ability to adapt to a changing environment. Attempts to reduce coyote populations in western states using year-round poisoning, hunting and trapping resulted in millions of dollars being spent over many decades with little reduction in coyote numbers. The result of any predator control method is temporary and often very localized. No measurable good ever resulted from the Game Commission's predator bounties in the 1900s. They truly were a waste of money.