A chilling video of a small dog being attacked by a coyote in Edmonton has triggered an investigation by the city’s park rangers.
The 33-second video on Facebook shows a woman walking with her small dog on a sidewalk near some parking stalls. The dog is leashed. Suddenly, a coyote comes into view of the camera though it is behind the woman so she cannot see it. The coyote is then seen running up to the dog and grabbing it with its mouth.
The woman then screams and starts struggling, using the leash to yank the dog out of the coyote’s mouth. Once she has her dog free, she is heard yelling, “Oh my God!” and picks her dog up.
“When a coyote makes contact with you or your pet, or is exhibiting fearless or aggressive behaviour, always call 311,” Chrystal Coleman, a spokesperson for the City of Edmonton, told Global News in an email on Wednesday.
The city did not confirm when the attack occurred, but Coleman said it unfolded near the Mill Creek Ravine, an area she noted “has been a hot spot for aggressive coyote incidents in the past month.”
Colleen Cassady St. Clair, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, told Global News she saw the video and has since learned that “the dog, amazingly, was not badly hurt.”
“It was clearly a very predatory attack by that coyote — no question,” she said. “It wasn’t provoked in any way by the dog.
“It was a brave lady who defended her dog successfully. She did all the right things — shouting at the coyote, she didn’t run away and she didn’t let go of the leash and was able to pull her pet to safety.
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“Pretty traumatic, I imagine, but a better ending than it might have been.”
Coleman said in response to concerning coyote incidents in an around the Mill Creek Ravine recently, park ranger peace officers have put up signage to warn people and also added more patrols of the area.
“A large family of coyotes, including several juvenile pups, was eventually confirmed in the south Mill Creek Ravine area,” she said. “Two adult coyotes were lethally managed. The city believes there could be other dens in the vicinity.”
READ MORE: Coyote euthanized in Mill Creek Ravine after increase in aggressive behaviour
St. Clair said she has heard reports that coyotes in the area have been purposely fed by humans, something she noted increases the likelihood of confrontations with coyotes.
“Unfortunately, that situation, where coyotes have learned that people mean food, causes them to lose all their fear of people,” she said. “It makes them really brazen. And ultimately it leads to this kind of conflict and the need to lethally manage (them.)”
“Food conditioning, that process of teaching animals to associate food with people, can’t really be reversed. Food is such a big reward for animals and they don’t seem to be able to learn not to have that association once it’s formed. … There really aren’t any options once coyotes act that aggressively.”
READ MORE: Urban coyotes becoming audacious in Edmonton, how to deter them
St. Clair said people sometimes knowingly feed coyotes but sometimes indirectly feed them without realizing it, by leaving out garbage, composting material or bird seed.
“It is important to remove food sources from private property and never deliberately feed wildlife,” Coleman said. “Fines for illegal feeding range between $250 and $500.”
St. Clair said while coyote attacks on pets remain relatively rare, they are becoming more frequent in recent years. She said if Edmontonians see a coyote in a residential area, its presence there alone is enough to warrant treating it aggressively so it learns to fear humans.
“Even if they don’t seem to be doing anything particularly bold,” she said. “Shout at them. If you feel comfortable doing so, chase them. Throw things at them — we favour weighted tennis balls because they’re easy to throw accurately.
“Teach those coyotes that they shouldn’t trust people. That is the best way to maintain some co-existence between urban coyotes and people.”
READ MORE: City investigating after pack of coyotes attacks human and dog in southwest Edmonton
St. Clair added that keeping pets on a leash is important to keep them safe, and it can be a good idea to carry a stick or hiking pole on walks.
She suggested the ability of the woman on the video to keep her dog safe was impressive.
“She did not give up. She just fought with everything she had.”
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