Posted on 10/28/2009 12:33:10 PM PDT by Borges
Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old Toronto singer whose debut album was released in March, has died in a Nova Scotia hospital after being mauled by coyotes in a Cape Breton park.
Mitchell was hiking Tuesday on the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park when she was attacked by two coyotes. Another hiker, who was walking nearby, heard her cries for help and called 911.
Officers arrived about 3:15 p.m., and one of the coyotes fled into the bush. The other coyote was shot and limped away.
Mitchell was airlifted to a hospital in Halifax, where she died early Wednesday.
"I spoke to her mother late last night and at one point we thought, she was stable," said manager Lisa Weitz, "but she had lost too much blood."
The singer and songwriter, who loved the outdoors, had started her East Coast tour on Oct. 23 in New Brunswick and was scheduled to perform in Sydney tonight. "She had a small break and (she) wanted to go hiking," said Weitz.
Mitchell, whose MySpace photograph has her standing in the woods with a guitar in one hand, released her debut album this March.
A website review describes her album as "a collection of mostly original songs that showcases a range of styles, from folk to country-rock to pop."
Born and raised in Toronto, Mitchell studied music from an early age and graduated in 2008 from Etobicoke School of the Arts.
She was very excited to be touring the Maritimes, said Weitz. "She was just exhilarated to be on the road and performing."
Friends and family are in shock, said Weitz.
In Nova Scotia, Don Anderson, a biologist with that province's Natural Resources Department, said coyote attacks in the area are uncommon, but they do happen from time to time.
An Ontario girl was bitten on the same trail several years ago, Anderson said.
Ethel Merry, owner of the nearby Cheticamp Motel, said the incident was unfortunate but she wasn't surprised to hear about it. She said the motel is about 10 kilometres from the entrance of the park but she often sees coyotes.
"My home is a 100 feet from (the motel) but if it's dark outside, I don't walk alone," she said. "I've seen too many coyotes."
Merry said the attack hasn't fazed locals or park visitors. "Skyline Trail is one of the most beautiful and famous trails in the park. This isn't stopping any hikers," she said.
The park is on the northern tip of Cape Breton Island.
Canadian medicine!
Here is a good site on coyotes.
http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=325992&depNav_GID=1655
Western Coyotes are definitely smaller than 45lb. We have them around our house all the time.
“Annie bring your gun”.
I think self-defense is illegal in Canada.
Considering it was the 911 responders who scattered the coyotes and not the other hiker, it seems the other hiker didn’t do anything to help while the coyotes had at her. If she picked up a big stick and went after them, the coyotes would have run away. They are cowards. Too bad.
As long as people traveled the wild areas armed the predators had a fear of man, that isn’t the case now. Humans, unarmed, are easy prey.
Can't 'carry' in Canada - open or otherwise.
don't know if pepper spray is also outlawed - but I'd want that with me...actually, a tazer too = more against two-leggeds, but whatever decides to violate my territorial imperitive
>>>hmmm - she was attacked Tuesday afternoon and died the following day because she had lost too much blood?
She was in the hospital all that time and then died from blood loss?<<<
Um, this was a CANADIAN, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE hospital. What did you expect, first rate or even competent care? They probably had her on a waiting list while she bled to death.
The coyotes I used to see in Apache Junction, AZ we quite large and fluffy like dogs. They got a lot of free food from garbage cans and were prosperous.
The coyotes I used to see out the Gila River Indian Reservation were scrawny things.
sounds like it to me, same thing that did Liam Neeson's wife in last winter.
Same thing coming to you/us - if the pukes in DC get their way...not only will there be shorter supplies, but by the time some committee in DC is contacted, meets and weighs your viability to continue using oxygen, it will be too late.
From "The Law of rhe Jungle"
(from "The Jungle Book")
by Rudyard Kipling
yep - see my post #52
I was really upset by her picture. She looked like an angel.
Thanks for the link. And I think those eastern coyotes get well over 45 lbs too. I have heard hunters here in New Jersey talk about ones over 50 lbs. Up there in Canada, they might be even bigger and more like eastern Wolves.
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The coyotes I see in the desert are scrawny, too. The ones I see in inhabited areas are larger and heavier. They live off the rabbits that eat peoples shrubs, pets and food they get from the trash. They do well.
I have friends over in Aguila AZ that shoot them for the hides. When there is plenty of rabbits the coyotes there get about the size of German Shepherds.
I used to hunt them here but got older and just don’t get a thrill out of killing critters anymore.
regards
Here in NV we're starting to see what we call "wolf coyotes"--they look like wolves and are much more aggressive than their smaller shy cousins. My father-in-law has been seeing them on his property and stays well away.
See:
“Although some coyotes may exhibit bold behavior near people, the risk of a coyote attacking a person is extremely low. This risk can increase if coyotes are intentionally fed and then learn to associate people with food.”
Typical Bambi Disney-think characteristic of many easterners.
All intelligent animals, and predators are generally highly intelligent, and learn from experience. If they learn that humans are safe to be around, they start to view them as a food source instead of a threat. Most animals view other creatures as either a threat, a food source, or a potential pack mate or sexual partner. That’s the way it is.
And to keep an environment safe for humans, predators like wolves, coyote-wolves bears and cougars should be regularly hunted.
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