Canadian folk singer killed by Coyotes

[old&slow]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8331106.stm

Two coyotes have attacked and killed a 19-year-old folk singer in a national park in eastern Canada, officials say.

Taylor Mitchell, 19, a promising musician from Toronto, died in hospital after the animals pounced as she hiked alone in Cape Breton park, Nova Scotia.

Walkers alerted park rangers after hearing her screams. The rangers shot one coyote, but were still searching for the second.

Attacks by coyotes on humans are rare; they usually prey on deer and hares.

Bleeding heavily from multiple bite wounds, the singer-songwriter was airlifted to a Halifax hospital, but died of her injuries on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

'Phenomenally talented'

"Coyotes are normally afraid of humans. This is a very irregular occurrence," Brigdit Leger, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told Reuters news agency.

She said the two coyotes were "extremely aggressive" when authorities arrived at the scene.

The small wolf-like animals are found from Central America to the United States and Canada.

Coyote
Coyotes are also known as prairie wolves

Ms Mitchell - touted as a rising star in the folk music scene - was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award earlier this year in the youth category.

"Words can't begin to express the sadness and tragedy of losing such a sweet, compassionate, vibrant, and phenomenally talented young woman," Lisa Weitz, Ms Mitchell's manager, said in an e-mail to AP news agency.

"She just turned 19 two months ago, and was so excited about the future."

[theken]

Shitty.

[TorqueDog]

You capitalizing the word "coyotes" really gave this thread a different context until I read the message body. :nut: First bankruptcy court, now this!


Unfortunate to hear though - but IMO going hiking by yourself is a bad idea to begin with.

[JfuckinC]

Fuck that blows!
I would think a healthy 19 year old girl could fend off some coyotes? :dunno:
So shitty though..

http://www.myspace.com/taylormitchellband

[Impreza]

Coyotes only get up to 50lbs usually. I am surprised she wasn't able to scare them away. Maybe she was knocked to the ground and then the coyotes just went crazy on her?

Very shitty.

[Eleanor]

Rabid?

[TKRIS]

I friend of mine was attacked by 3 coyotes a few years back, and he was barely able to fend them off, so I'm not surprised that a small, 19 year old girl couldn't fight off 2 of them.

Sad.

[Jlude]

wow.. terrible story.

[97'Scort]

Originally posted by TorqueDog
You capitalizing the word "coyotes" really gave this thread a different context until I read the message body. :nut: First bankruptcy court, now this!

Yeah, I kinda thought Gordon Lightfoot had been beaten to death by the Phoenix Coyotes.

[Supa Dexta]

You have to remember that even though they may only be 50lbs, they spend their whole lives hunting and killing. Animals are strong as hell when they put their minds to something.. I had a dog prob 60-70lbs get caught in a foot trap once, and it was unreal how crazy he got, while I was trying to undo him. Something in his brain just snapped, and the look in his eyes were something I've never seen before.

[nrt_vw]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
You have to remember that even though they may only be 50lbs, they spend their whole lives hunting and killing. Animals are strong as hell when they put their minds to something.. I had a dog prob 60-70lbs get caught in a foot trap once, and it was unreal how crazy he got, while I was trying to undo him. Something in his brain just snapped, and the look in his eyes were something I've never seen before.

I know what you mean. Had a similar situation with a much smaller dog and he went absolutely psycho. Pretty scary actually

[bjstare]

Coyotes are good for nothing.

Also, I've never seen one as big as 50lbs..not even close. I've only seen them on my family's ranch and farm land in southern AB, would they be different sizes based on where they live maybe?

[johnboy27]

Originally posted by JfuckinC
Fuck that blows!
I would think a healthy 19 year old girl could fend off some coyotes? :dunno:
So shitty though..

http://www.myspace.com/taylormitchellband
Coyotes in Cape Breton have been cross breeding with wolf's for years and are substantially larger than prairie coyotes we see here. For her it her it would be like getting attacked by 2 small german sheppards.

[Supa Dexta]

There's no wolves in cape breton. Or the maritimes for the matter :nut: Although I will agree they are bigger then the ones I see out here.

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
You have to remember that even though they may only be 50lbs, they spend their whole lives hunting and killing. Animals are strong as hell when they put their minds to something.. I had a dog prob 60-70lbs get caught in a foot trap once, and it was unreal how crazy he got, while I was trying to undo him. Something in his brain just snapped, and the look in his eyes were something I've never seen before.

I try to explain this to people every time a "big dog" issue comes up... no one seems to get it.. Yeah, it might be a 50 pound dog, but the insane pressure that they can squeeze with their jaw is what does damage.

My dog can pretty much lock her jaw shut (and she does, on clothing and stuff) and I cannot pry it open. I would imagine that if animals like coyotes were hungry enough, they'd have no problem killing quite a few of the members on this board.

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
There's no wolves in cape breton. Or the maritimes for the matter :nut: Although I will agree they are bigger then the ones I see out here.

i was listening to some wildlife expert on AM 770, they say it's some sort of fox (red fox?) that they're breeding with, since they're all from the same 'family' (foxes wolves coyotes etc) it makes sense i guess if they did breed, which equates to the added aggressiveness, but a regular coyote here, we all know it would gtfotw if anything bigger than it was around . i dont understand the size increase tho, i thought foxes in NA were smaller than coyotes.

basically it's not your average north american coyote that picks fights with the little family schnauzer.

edit: i guess they fight eachother and would never breed, idk then lol

[Jlude]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
There's no wolves in cape breton. Or the maritimes for the matter :nut: Although I will agree they are bigger then the ones I see out here.



I saw a few coyotes in Calgary when I was leaving work late in the industrail park. I thought it was a stray dog because it was so small. Coyotes in the maritimes are much bigger.

[Hamann]

Shitty Deal, honestly the girl didn't stand much of a chance, 2 50lb coyotes, thats 100lbs of muscle and teeth coming at you. When it comes down to eat or die anything is dangerous.

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by n1zm0


i was listening to some wildlife expert on AM 770, they say it's some sort of fox (red fox?) that they're breeding with, since they're all from the same 'family' (foxes wolves coyotes etc) it makes sense i guess if they did breed, which equates to the added aggressiveness, but a regular coyote here, we all know it would gtfotw if anything bigger than it was around . i dont understand the size increase tho, i thought foxes in NA were smaller than coyotes.

basically it's not your average north american coyote that picks fights with the little family schnauzer.

edit: i guess they fight eachother and would never breed, idk then lol

What? My parents live in Valley Ridge and my dad has been cornered by coyotes with a 70 pound male Golden Retriever. He was backed up against the outside fence of their yard by 4 coyotes no more than 15 feet away when I came out with a baseball bat to try and beat some sense into them. We started throwing rocks and stuff at them and they finally left. These are probably 30 pound coyotes that are being that aggressive.

:whipped: Fuck 'em. If I had the means and wouldn't get the shitstorm from all the bleeding hearts in this country, I would have shot the fucking things.

[syeve]

Originally posted by cjblair
Coyotes are good for nothing.



I say humans are good for nothing :)



Originally posted by 95EagleAWD
If I had the means and wouldn't get the shitstorm from all the bleeding hearts in this country, I would have shot the fucking things.

I don't think there would be any backlash from defending yourself.

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by syeve

I don't think there would be any backlash from defending yourself.

With a gun?! In this country?

I'd go to jail, probably.

[bignerd]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
There's no wolves in cape breton. Or the maritimes for the matter :nut: Although I will agree they are bigger then the ones I see out here.

I think there have been reports of coyotes and timber wolves interbreeding in Newfoundland? There was a report on tv not too long back about coyotes and how they live in urban areas and the issues they create. The problem with the hybrids was that they are wolf size and coyote smart.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32976657/ns/technology_and_science-science/

The article above refers to the NE United States but includes a picture.

One of the articles I read about the attack on the singer thought that maybe the coyotes came from behind and knocked her down to the ground and were just so fast she could not react in time before becoming over-whelmed. Just another reason to not go hiking or jogging while listening to your ipod.

[heavyD]

I've seen Coyotes in the NW and they have all been pretty small (20 - 30 lbs max) but you just never know as shit happens.

[bignerd]

Last summer I was driving along Confederation park (but behind the park, not on 14th Street) and I saw the biggest damn Coyote I have seen in a long time cruising up the sidewalk. It was in a playground zone so I was going slow, it looked at me, I looked at it and it just kept on going-not something I would want to run into on a walk with my dog or kids.

My dog is medium sized but stocky (55 lbs) and I would say this Coyote was taller than him but had a lighter build, way more than 30lbs though.

I have seen a couple around the airport and some in nose hill although these ones have been average size.

[Supa Dexta]

Originally posted by bignerd


I think there have been reports of coyotes and timber wolves interbreeding in Newfoundland?

Well NF isn't part of the maritimes, so yes, that could be... Technically labrador is part of NF too, which is connected to northern quebec, where there are wolves.

[johnboy27]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
There's no wolves in cape breton. Or the maritimes for the matter :nut: Although I will agree they are bigger then the ones I see out here.
I am from the Maritimes and read the paper from there everyday. The day after the attack there was a interview with a guy who has been studying them for years and he is the one that said they had been breeding with wolves and that was the reason they are so much larger than prairie coyotes.

[Supa Dexta]

Yes in the past, not nowadays. Because there aren't any wolves there.