http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/04/09/ns-coyote-bounty-nova-scotia.html
N.S. considers coyote bounty after attack
Last Updated: Friday, April 9, 2010 | 9:08 PM AT Comments90Recommend40
CBC News
The Nova Scotia government is mulling a coyote cull in the wake of several incidents of aggressive behaviour toward humans. (CBC)
Nova Scotia is considering a bounty on coyotes after an attack on a woman Thursday.
Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell said Friday that his department is exploring the idea. He had previously said there was no need for a cull.
"I think that they're occurring often enough that I should pursue this a little bit," he said. "At one point in time, I would have said, 'look, we're not going there,' but I'm thinking I might."
Sue Sinclair was out for a walk on a trail in South Maitland Thursday morning, just 45 metres from the tourist bureau, when a coyote came out of the marsh. She said it lunged at her thigh.
"When he started at me, that's when I started yelling and kicking at him. I was able to chase him off into the ditch and tried to walk away. But, he kept on coming back to the trail and following me, and I'd have to frighten him away again," Sinclair said Friday.
"That was three or four times before he finally actually went away."
Sinclair suffered some bruises on her leg, but was otherwise uninjured.
But, she said she's going to be a lot more cautious.
"I don't walk by myself anymore. I'm definitely going to take a stick with me," Sinclair said.
The walking path where she was attacked had new signs Friday, warning about aggressive coyotes.
Ruth Hubley, of South Maitland, said she saw a pack of seven coyotes in the area about two weeks ago.
"Well, right there on the hill, they were going into the woods," Hubley said, adding the attack on Sinclair has frightened her and she would support a cull.
"Well I think they should be done away with. That's the way I feel about it. I mean, it's pretty sad you can't go out for a walk, you know," she said.
Sinclair may have surprised the coyote, said Russell MacKinlay, area supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources.
"From talking with the woman, we were sort of thinking it was more of a defensive thing," he told the Enfield Weekly Press. "In other words, she may have surprised the animal so it acted aggressively towards her."
In a separate incident this week, a coyote chased a man and his dog in Goldenville, Guysborough County.
Jason Hirschfeld said he was chased by a coyote after calling to his dog.
"I head the coyotes howling, and I called her [the dog] back. The coyotes were chasing her, and the dog run up on the step," Hirschfeld said Friday. "I was down at the bottom of the step, and they put the run on me."
Neither he nor his dog were injured.
On Tuesday, a coyote attack was reported in Digby Neck. Natural Resources has set traps in that area, and traps may soon be set in South Maitland and Goldenville.
"I'm certainly not advocating people panic," MacDonell said.
Natural Resources has been getting a record number of calls from the public about coyotes, sparked largely by the death of a hiker last October.
Taylor Mitchell, a folksinger from Toronto, died in hospital after she was attacked by coyotes on the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Those animals were tracked down and killed.
At least three schools in the province have warned parents about coyotes spotted close to school property.
MacDonell said last month there was no need to control the coyote population. He said department staff will only kill the animals if they present a threat to people.
Wildlife officials say the risk of a coyote attack is extremely low. They remind people not to feed the animals.
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