Coyote Attack

A coyote mauled a 4-year-old girl who was playing in the snow Monday near a ski resort where she was on vacation with her family. The girl, Lauren Bridges, was treated at a hospital for deep cuts to her face and was reported in stable condition. She was saved by her father, who heard the girl's screams. "The coyote was on top of her, ripping at her neck," Steve Bridges said. "I grabbed the coyote by the back of the neck and pulled it off. She was covered in blood."

The attacker pounced from behind a large rock as 3-year-old Erika Attar played outside her home. "Mommy!" shrieked a playmate as the girl struggled to break free. Erika's father dashed across the yard, and the startled predator vanished into the dusk. It was the sort of crime associated with an urban jungle, not a tranquil suburb. But it was one of two such attacks in four days, and the descriptions of the suspects were identical: brownish-black hair, pronounced nose, amber eyes and long, skinny legs — all four of them.

When 5-year-old Erek Sahleen and his neighbor, Jeffrey Marshall, 8, went exploring in a dry lake bed near their Yorba Linda homes this week, they knew coyotes had been seen in the area. But the boys didn't expect a coyote attack. Erek has been undergoing rabies shots for coyote bites on both ankles and one thigh since he was attacked at dusk Tuesday, and county animal control workers are staking out the area to try to capture the coyote that attacked him.

Concerned about the safety of park visitors, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge on Monday erected the first of dozens of signs urging the public not to feed the wildlife in Griffith Park. The decision was prompted after two visitors were bitten by coyotes in separate incidents in September, officials said. The two attacks initially sparked a controversial eradication effort in which hunters shot and killed eight coyotes in the 4,210-acre park. The eradication effort ended after two days.

Joan Murphy did not hesitate when she saw a coyote with her neighbor's cat in its jaws. She chased the coyote down the street during pre-dawn hours last Friday, forcing it to abandon its prey. "I just started to scream at him. I figured I could scare him," said Murphy, the empathetic owner of two cats she keeps indoors at night in her University Park neighborhood.

Alarmed over recent coyote sightings near an elementary school in their neighborhood, West Hills residents will meet with city animal-control experts Tuesday to discuss how to protect children and pets. Citing a coyote attack on a toddler in Griffith Park four months ago and an attack on a poodle last month in West Hills, residents say they fear the worst. "We're just trying to act before we get an attack," said Diane Booth.

Three coyotes have been snared in steel-clamp traps set on the outskirts of Oceanside after reports last week that the wily animals had made bold forays into the city and, in one case, attacked a 3-year-old girl. "It's important that this does not get whipped into countywide hysteria," said Peter Butchko, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official who is supervising the coyote trapping. "Not every coyote is a killer of people, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't take precautions.

Police shot and killed a coyote that attacked a 4-year-old boy playing in his back yard on Cape Cod. The boy's mother told police she had to pry the coyote off her son. Daniel Neal suffered scratches and bites, said Sandwich Police Sgt. Daniel O'Connell, and was listed in good condition at Children's Hospital in Boston. Peter Trull, a coyote researcher, said it's the first documented coyote attack on a human in Massachusetts.

Carrying a stack of yellow flyers, 3-year-old Jennifer Dimmick joined her parents Thursday in a door-to-door campaign to alert neighbors about the dangers of coyotes living in nearby brushland. Jennifer was attacked by a coyote Monday night several yards from the family's driveway, as her mother stood nearby. The girl was bitten on the face, head and leg.

The unresolved saga of an Encino pug dog that was skinned alive continued Friday, when the city's Animal Services Department released new information bolstering its contention that the dog was killed by a coyote. The agency reported 109 coyote sightings and attacks since 1990 in the area where the pug was killed, including the case of Tootsie, a West Hills poodle found skinned and mauled Thursday.

A man reported being attacked by a coyote in Griffith Park last week, wildlife officials said. The man, who was lying down near the Travel Town area Wednesday night, reported waking up to find a coyote biting his foot, but he was not seriously injured, said Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. The attack was the second reported in less than a month in the 4,210-acre, chaparral-covered park. Wildlife authorities learned from Los Angeles County health officials last week that another person had been bitten in the park in late August.

Re "Coyotes on the prowl in Yorba Linda," Sept. 9 I find it both ignorant and arrogant for people to place themselves directly next to the home of wild animals, then complain when the animals appear on their doorstep. If you want to live close to nature, you'd better expect that nature is going to live close to you. Coyotes are predators, and fire or no fire, they will end up in these neighborhoods where meals are easy to get. I have two small dogs and have seen a hawk swoop down into my yard.

A coyote that attacked several Simi Valley children Sunday did not have rabies, authorities said Tuesday. Officials at Ventura County's Department of Animal Regulation based their findings on two tests on the animal's brain, one performed Monday and a second Tuesday. The 45-pound, 8-month-old coyote attacked four boys in Simi Valley about 7 p.m. Sunday. The last boy injured, 3-year-old Weston Field, required 13 stitches in his face and head.

Police fatally shot a coyote after it tried to drag a 3 1/2-year-old Simi Valley boy off his front porch Sunday night and attacked three other children playing on a nearby street. The boy, Weston Field, was playing outside his Hill Valley Court home around 7 p.m. Sunday when the 45-pound coyote pounced on him, biting him on the neck, ear, head, hand, back and face. Weston's mother, Debbie, had walked down the driveway to gather some toys when she heard the boy scream.

A 1-year-old California condor released into the wild last month was found dead at Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, in what biologists said appeared to be a coyote attack. The male chick was one of four young captive-bred condors released in the wild this year as part of the government's 23-year, $35-million effort to save the endangered birds from extinction. Mike Stockton, a supervising wildlife biologist with the U.S.

Living up against the foothills in eastern San Clemente, Thomas Newell had seen his share of coyotes late at night as he walked his dog. But Newell never imagined a coyote would invade a playground filled with screaming kids in broad daylight. But that's exactly what happened Tuesday. Newell's daughter and a schoolmate were attacked by a coyote during a lunchtime recess on the playground of their elementary school.

Animal control officials trapped two more adult coyotes over the weekend near the Forster Ranch community, but at least one more pet in the area fell victim to a coyote attack Monday morning, officials said. The two coyotes, which trappers described as "extremely aggressive," were destroyed by lethal injections Monday and sent to the county health department for rabies tests, San Clemente Fire Department spokesman Jack Stubbs said.

In a setback for the veterinarian who examined Pal the pug, a judge Thursday threw out part of his lawsuit against Los Angeles animal regulation officials. The ruling that a search of the vet's office was legal leaves intact Dr. Mel vyn Richkind's defamation claims against the city, which are due for jury trial Monday. Richkind was the first veterinarian to examine the dog after its Encino owner found Pal near death, with much of his skin torn off in 1997.

In a setback for the veterinarian who examined Pal the pug, a judge Thursday threw out part of his lawsuit against Los Angeles animal regulation officials. The ruling that a search of the vet's office was legal leaves intact Dr. Mel vyn Richkind's defamation claims against the city, which are due for jury trial Monday. Richkind was the first veterinarian to examine the dog after its Encino owner found Pal near death, with much of his skin torn off in 1997.

Kudos to Ginnie Ryder for her sensitive and honest article ("Instinct Fails a Kitten in Coyote Country," Orange County Voices, Jan. 24). Quality of life is the key. My Simba, a happy and healthy 4-year-old neutered male, comes and goes at will, through kitty doors. To watch him bask in the sunshine on the patio table, chase grasshoppers and "bird-watch" is a joy. His world is very small, so he doesn't wander far. His kitty friends come to visit and tumble on the lawn. Our neighbors drive slowly to respect the life and freedom of their children and our pets.