STOUGHTON — When Stoughton resident Robin Totman pulled into her driveway on Highland Street, the last thing she was expecting was to get attacked by a coyote.
But in what experts say is a rare but increasing occurrence, that’s exactly what happened.
“I had the window down and the coyote came running at the car and jumped towards the window,” Totman said. “It kept jumping at my car. I put my window up and started blowing my horn to try and scare it away,” she said.
A deer in the woods nearby drew the attacking coyote’s attention away from Totman, and she used the opportunity to run to the safety of her house.
The incident terrified Totman, who has an 11-year-old son who walks outside every day to get on and off the bus for school.
“We’ve decided to purchase pepper spray to carry with us now,” she said.
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After reporting the incident to the Stoughton Police Department, Totman posted about her ordeal in a neighborhood Facebook group to warn other residents of the coyote’s presence. The post garnered a lot of attention amongst Stoughton’s residents, many of whom commented about the “scary” occurrence.
MassWildlife‘s Furbearer Biologist Dave Wattles answers residents’ questions and concerns about this specific incident and provides tips on how to prevent this type of interaction from occurring in the future.
“It’s very possible to peacefully co-exist with coyotes,” he told The Enterprise. Here’s how.
Was the coyote rabid?
“The way it was described, it sounds like it was rabid,” said Wattles. “A rabid animal can have that manic quality, attacking anything that moves including inanimate objects, so it certainly fits the bill,” he said.
“It sounds weird, but I would hope it was rabid,” Wattles said. “Otherwise, it would be conscious behavior on behalf of the animal which would be highly unusual.”
While rabies is not unusual in wildlife in Massachusetts — since 1992, more than 5,000 animals have tested positive for rabies in Massachusetts — most of the confirmed cases have been in raccoons, skunks, bats, woodchucks and foxes.
It’s not common for coyotes to get rabies, but there have been more such incidents in the past few years, said Wattles.
In August of this year, a rabid coyote attacked a woman as she walked her dog in Fall River. Shortly after, it wandered onto the grounds of the Fall River Country Club where it tried to attack an employee.
“When officers arrived, they were able to spot the coyote, and it took an aggressive stance towards the officers,” Fall River police spokesperson Detective Sgt. Moses Pereira told The Herald News. “Unfortunately, they were forced to put it down.”
Is the rabid coyote still in Stoughton?
According to Wattles, Stoughton Animal Control didn’t receive any other reports of the coyote attacking residents in Stoughton or the surrounding area.
“Fortunately, if this animal was rabid, rabies is relatively fast acting,” said Wattles. “By now, the animal would have already died.”
How often do coyotes attack humans?
While still uncommon, Waddles says attacks on humans are increasing in frequency in Massachusetts.
“I believe we’re at 35 or 36 incidents of coyote attacks in recorded history. The first one was recorded in 1998. In the past 10 years, there have been about one or two attacks per year. Then in the last three to four years, it’s been four, five, even six incidents per year,” he said.
Why do coyotes attack humans?
Most of these incidents were caused by humans intentionally feeding a coyote, Wattles said.
“It would be highly unusual to have that kind of aggression in a non-rabid coyote. We get people bitten by coyotes every year but usually, they are situations where a resident has been feeding them,” he said.
When humans feed coyotes, the animals start to associate people with food.
“They lose their fear of people. Most of these bites have been curious nips on the ankle. It’s not an aggressive bite,” he said. “They think if they approach this person, they’ll get food.”
In 2021 in Arlington, Wattles remembers that intentional feeding caused a coyote to bite three children.
“Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and are looking for an easy meal. If they are taught that being around humans can lead to food, that is when the trouble starts,” John Maguranis, a Massachusetts Representative of Project Coyote, told Wicked Local in 2021 about the incident.
“People might start seeing the same coyote on a walk, and they start by giving it a few dog biscuits, and then eventually they are giving them a whole can of dog food,” said Maguranis. “If they stop, the coyote may look to be around humans and if they are not getting food, they can bite.”
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What should I do if I get attacked by a coyote?
If a coyote attacks, call 911.
“Anytime someone is being attacked by an animal, the police can get there in minutes. They can dispatch the animal and resolve the situation quickly,” said Wattles.
While the police don’t usually deal with animal incidents, they will respond if there’s imminent danger of bodily harm.
“You can call MassWildlife or the environmental police, but it’s less likely we can get there in time,” he said.
Has a coyote ever killed someone in Massachusetts?
“I’m only aware of two incidences of a human being killed by a coyote in the whole of North America,” neither of which were in Massachusetts, said Wattles.
However, there have been many incidences of cats and dogs being attacked and killed by coyotes.
“Almost all are unsupervised pets. The coyote comes out of nowhere and grabs the animal,” said Wattles.
In 2021, a Malitpoo named Gabby was attacked and killed by a coyote in Raynham.
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Should I be worried about coyotes in the area?
“There’s a high level of interaction between coyotes and humans every day because they live in almost every town and city in Massachusetts, including Boston,” said Wattles. “In that context, there are literally millions of domestic dog bites, thousands of which are in Massachusetts. There are only a handful of coyote bites despite them being in every urban and suburban environment, next to schools and in backyards.”
Preventing conflict with coyotes
Wattles stresses three main ways to prevent serious conflict with coyotes:
- “Remove and secure any human food sources like bird seed, pet food, and garbage. This trains the coyote to look to humans for free meals,” said Wattles. “By removing those food sources, you provide natural regulation for their size and population.”
- Many bites by coyote happen because the coyote has lost their natural fear of humans. “If you see a coyote in your yard, chase them, make loud noise, throw small objects, and haze them,” said Wattles. “Instill a natural fear of humans back in them.”
- Wattles also recommends protecting pets by keeping them on a leash outside and by always standing right next to the animal, not just near them. “It’s the persons presence next to the pet that prevents coyotes from attacking,” he said.
“If people practice those three steps, it’s very possible to peacefully coexist with coyotes.”
