MAN KILLS COYOTE WITH BARE HANDS – This sounds like an adventure straight out of a Teddy Roosevelt journal. Ian O’Reilly, Kensington, New Hampshire, killed a coyote with his bare hands on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The coyote attacked his 2y/o son. O’Reilly, his wife and their three children were taking a walk on an Exeter trail when the animal came up and grabbed his 2-year-old son by the jacket. The boy was pulled to the ground by his hood.
The Fight
Ian was able to take the coyote to the ground in a scissor-hold with his legs and squeeze while smashing the dogs snout and head into the snow. It took about 10 minutes to dispatch the dog.
Protective Instinct
“It actually caught the hood of his jacket and was able to pull him down. I did kick him square in the jaw once that put him to the ground and I was able to jump on him after that. There was no running away, it would not allow us to run away. It was very much the aggressor. In the middle of the moment you’re not really thinking or recording a whole lot. It’s really just instinct. The fact that when we tried to kick and push and get rid of him, it became clear that he was not disengaging.“
One Coyote, Multiple Attacks
This attack was the third and final attack of three coyote-related incidents reported in the area Monday. Residents and local law enforcement believe it was the same coyote responsible for all three attacks. A car was attacked in a neighborhood, as it was driving, and a 62y/o woman was bitten protecting her dogs on her porch. Kensington Police provided a statement on their facebook page. The coyote is being tested for rabies and all involved are receiving proper medical evaluation and treatment.
Crazy Coyote News
Coyote and human interaction is regularly in the news. In June 2019, a boy and his mother were attacked in New Jersey. Last month, a man in Manitoba, Canada, hit a coyote, mistakenly identified it as a german shepherd and put the coyote in his car to take to a vet. Despite rising coyote populations and increased human-coyote incidents, states like Nevada and New Mexico have criminalized and banned coyote hunting competitions. Environmental groups regularly question coyote hunting but South Carolina provides incentives for coyote hunting. The EPA even recently re-authorized the use of “cyanide bombs” to kill coyotes in New Mexico.
Do you commit to hunting coyotes like you commit to hunting deer or elk?
