KENSINGTON, N.H. —
A man killed a coyote with his bare hands after the animal threatened his child on a hiking trail in New Hampshire, officials said.
The attack was one of three coyote-related incidents reported in Exeter on Monday.
Ian O'Reilly said he, his wife and their three children were taking a walk on an Exeter trail when the animal came up and grabbed his 2-year-old son by the jacket, pulling the boy to the ground.
O'Reilly and his wife managed to separate the coyote from their son. O'Reilly said he tried kicking it and getting it to run off, but it wouldn't. He was bitten on his chest and forearm but managed to get on top of the animal and cut off its air supply.
His son wasn't bitten.
"In the middle of the moment you're not really thinking or recording a whole lot," O'Reilly said. "It's really just instinct. The fact that when we tried to kick and push and get rid of him, it became clear that he was not disengaging."
Earlier Monday, police warned the public of a coyote being spotted by a driver in Hampton Falls who reported the wild animal attacked their car Monday morning.
About 20 minutes later, a coyote bit a Kensington woman and one of her dogs. Resident Pat Lee told police the animal tried to follow her into her Hemlock Road home and bit her as she tried to keep it out.
Lee said she thought at first that the animal was someone's pet.
"I realized this was a coyote, and I just started screaming at the top of my lungs to try to get him to stop and go away," Lee said. "It was very, very scary, but it could've been a lot worse."
O'Reilly, Lee and two dogs have been given rabies shots, officials said. The coyote that was killed will be tested for rabies.
Fish and Game officials said they are trying to determine whether the same animal was involved in all three incidents.
https://www.wesh.com/article/coyote-attacks-woman-dog-in-kensington-new-hampshire-police-say/30601053
