4-year-old injured in second coyote attack in North Kildonan

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This article was published 02/07/2023 (892 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Residents in a North Kildonan neighbourhood are on edge after learning of a second coyote attack in the area involving a child.

In a Sunday release, Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development said a four-year-old child was attacked by a coyote in the Headmaster Row area of North Kildonan in the evening on June 30. The child was taken to hospital where they were treated for undisclosed injuries and later released.

The attack comes days after a nine-year-old child was attacked in the nearby Popko Crescent and Knowles Avenue area on June 24. He was also taken to hospital and is now at home recovering.

“It’s scary,” said Melissa McAuliffe, out for a walk Sunday afternoon on Headmaster Row with her daughter Aislin, 12. “But we can’t keep (our kids) inside — it’s nice out.”

Aislin said her friend carries an alarm that she could use to scare off coyotes. McAuliffe said a woman in the area carries a golf club when she’s walking her dog.

McAuliffe said she’s talked to her three children — including a 10-year-old and four-year-old — about what to do if they see a coyote. She tells them to scream and make themselves appear big. There are always people around who would run out to help.

That’s what happened during the first attack. A teenaged neighbour ran outside after hearing the screams of a nine-year-old boy who was walking home with his older sister near Popko Crescent and Knowles Avenue when they spotted a coyote and tried to run away. The animal chased them, attacking the young boy. The neighbour then ran outside and chased the coyote away with a shovel.

“It seemed aggressive,” rescuer Logan Funk told the Free Press last week. “It seemed like it could’ve wanted more… because it stayed there. It wasn’t scared of all of us.”

The release from Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development stressed that while coyote attacks on humans are rare, conservation officers are stepping up patrols of the area and a trapper from the Manitoba Trappers Association has also been hired to assist.

On Sunday, a conservation officer monitored a nearby greenspace from his truck. Signs set up along the edge of the bush read: “Warning: Wild animal live trapping in progress. Tampering is prohibited by law. For your safety, avoid area.”

Near where the trapping signs were newly-posted, just north of where the first attack took place, Mike Gordon was playing catch at the baseball diamond with his son, Connor, 12.

Gordon said it’s not unusual to see coyotes in the area. One recently followed him on a walk and a few once chased his son when he was riding his bike. Gordon said that as residential developments encroach on coyotes’ homes, it makes sense that they find ways to stick around, finding ways to survive amongst humans.

But it’s terrible to know that they’re attacking kids, he said.

He noticed the neighbourhood was noticeably quiet this week. It seems most people are staying inside.

Max Wildhager was playing at the park Sunday with his son, Cash, two-and-a-half.

Wildhager said he hadn’t heard about the attacks but he grew up on a farm and is used to coyotes.

“I’m sure people who grew up in the city would be more afraid of it,” he said. “But they might be a little different, coyotes in the city. They’ve probably adapted more… more for them to eat out in the country.”

Some tips to avoid attracting coyotes include: storing garbage in a wildlife-resistant container, cleaning up pet waste, picking up any fallen fruit from trees and ensuring compost isn’t accessible to animals.

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If you see a coyote, you’re advised to stop, remain calm and not run. If you have small children or pets, you should pick them up. If a coyote approaches, make noise, try to appear large, stay in a group, maintain eye contact with the coyote and stay facing it.

The province did not respond to a request for an interview about the ongoing situation Sunday.

“While these attacks are rare, it important that people be vigilant, supervise children closely, feed pets indoors, keep animals on a leash and reduce attractants,” Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development said in the release.

Anyone with information on the recent coyote attacks is asked to call the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-782-0076.

katrina.clarke@freepress.mb.ca

Coexisting with coyotes

Katrina Clarke
Investigative reporter

Katrina Clarke is an investigative reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press. Katrina holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Queen’s University and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University. She has worked at newspapers across Canada, including the National Post and the Toronto Star. She joined the Free Press in 2022. Read more about Katrina.

Every piece of reporting Katrina produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.