coyote car grill
Georgie Knox/Facebook

Coyote Hitches Ride in Car Grill After Being Struck in Alberta

This coyote travelled 20 miles...all while stuck snuggly in a vehicle's grill.

Georgie Knox was driving to work in September of 2017 when she struck a coyote  on QEII highway in Alberta, Canada.

She was certain she had killed the unlucky animal due to the loud "crunch" she heard. It turns out this coyote was in fact as lucky as they come. Instead of being killed, it miraculously hitched a ride in the front grill of Knox's Toyota for a 20-mile journey.

A keen motorist told Knox at a traffic light that she had a passenger—and a live one at that. As you can imagine, both relief, shock, and sadness came flooding out all at once.

"I was in shock!" she told CTV Calgary in a written message. "When I first hit him I felt terrible, thinking I killed him. I felt horrible when I realized I took him with me all the way from Airdrie. I thought he must be suffering and was going to die so I was very upset."

Alberta Fish and Wildlife and the Calgary Police Service were called to the scene to carefully remove the coyote from the grill. A biologist gave the well-travelled coyote the once-over, at which point he gave it a clean bill of health. Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers released the animal back to the general area where it first hitched its ride, but away from traffic hazards.

Here's the release video:

We know that cats have nine lives, so perhaps coyotes do too! Whatever the case, this one is truly lucky.

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