Little girl's close brush with a coyote captured on security cam footage.
Urban coyotes are becoming a much more common problem in cities across the United States and Canada. Often pushed from their homes by construction and progress, the animals find themselves uniquely adapted to survive in an urban environment. While their adaptability is good news for the coyotes, it is bad news for everyone else.
In the last five years, countless coyotes have been recorded on home security cameras in people's yards and even terrorizing their pets.
However, most concerning of all are the coyotes that seem to have lost their fear of humans. This security camera footage out of Villa Park, Illinois shows what happened when 5-year-old Christine Przybylski encountered one in her front yard last year. It is a frightening scenario for parents.
This incident happened last September. We get the feeling Christine's parents were a bit skeptical when their daughter told them she had just seen a coyote in the yard. We can only imagine their reaction once they reviewed the footage and saw the predator had chased Christine. The young girl told reporters she felt the animal's ear as it chased after her. She had gone to the mailbox to see if a Halloween costume had arrived in the mail yet.
"He really pursued her violently, and I'm so glad she got away," Christine's mother, Elizabeth told ABC7 News.
The station also reports that neighbors had heard the coyotes howling and screaming at night before. There is a wood lot nearby where these animals are likely spending most of their time. Unfortunately, this type of scenario is becoming more and more common.
In fact, back in April of this year, a pack of five to six coyotes attacked and bit another 5-year-old girl in California. The girl's mother scared the coyotes off, but it was concerning for local wildlife officials.
If you live in an area where coyotes might be common, use caution when letting pets and small children play outside. Most coyotes are not going to attack a person, but it never hurts to be alert. Better to be safe than sorry.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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