Dog walker fends off sneak attack by coyote in Barrie park

A Barrie resident walking her small dog fended off a brazen coyote attack Sunday in Sunnidale Park.

The owner was walking their dog around 1:30 p.m. on April 14 when the incident occurred, just minutes before a Village Media reporter happened to arrive at the park to take photos of the area.

Kaitlyn Taylor was with her eight-year-old miniature schnauzer, Opie, near the sidewalk along the park when she says a coyote decided to make its move on them.

"We were just walking … and he was on-leash, thank goodness,” she said on Monday.

“We were just kind of running in circles and I heard a lady walk nearby and she’s just screaming. I turned around and she’s screaming at me, yelling 'coyote,'” added Taylor. “And there’s a coyote running full steam ahead at us. There was another one kind of sitting right near the sidewalk."

By the time Taylor turned around, she says it was only about 10 feet from them.

“I grabbed Opie’s collar and was able to whip him up into my arms and held him over my head,” she said.

Taylor began stomping her feet and yelling at the coyote to try to get it to run away.

“It walked maybe five feet farther from us and then stalked us the entire way back to the parking lot,” she added.

Taylor said she didn’t hear it or see it come up to them until it was almost too late.

“And it came from a direction I wasn’t expecting," she added. 

She thinks it may have entered the park from across the road by the nearby cemetery, but she wasn’t facing in that direction.

“I was keeping my eye toward the wooded area,” Taylor explained. “Luckily that lady was walking behind us and spotted it or (Opie) would have been coyote chow.”

Despite the coyote warning signs the city has installed in the park, she says she just assumed the danger was more toward the wooded area where she has seen the coyotes before. For that reason, she has tended to avoid that area of the park.

She was surprised by the brazen attack, noting the park was fairly busy with lots of people walking about, many of them with little kids.

“They were a lot bigger than I thought,” Taylor said. “I was expecting coyotes to be more short and kind of lanky, but this guy was a hefty-looking animal.

“I was thinking, oh shit, I left my coyote mace in the car,” she added. “I have the mace for when I’m walking by myself, and now I’m kind of glad I have it, in general, as it was in the car.”

Taylor thinks the waterfront area downtown will likely be a better option for their walks going forward.

“We are probably going to just avoid Sunnidale (Park) for the near future," she said. 

Coyote attacks in Barrie are not uncommon, with one recent example being a small dog which was snatched up and taken away in Sunnidale Park back in January.

In that incident, the owner was walking their dog at the park in the morning of Jan. 2 — not in the off-leash area, but walking toward it.

A coyote came out of the nearby woods and grabbed the small dog, then retreated back into the forest. The dog was never recovered.

Tips offered by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry say if you encounter a coyote, it's best to keep your distance and the animal will most likely avoid you.

But if you encounter an aggressive animal, the ministry says do not turn your back or run. Remain calm, stand tall, wave your hands, and make lots of noise while slowly backing away from them.

If a coyote or any other wild animal poses an immediate threat or danger to public safety, call 9-1-1.

Pets such as small dogs or cats can be seen as prey for the animals, and should not be left unattended outside.

Always keep your dogs on a leash.

Ministry tips on how to limit attracting coyotes to your property:

•     Properly store and maintain garbage containers to help prevent coyotes from becoming a problem
•     Keep pet food indoors
•     Put garbage out the morning of a scheduled pickup
•     Use enclosed composting bins rather than exposed piles
•     Pick ripe fruit and seed from trees and remove fallen fruit from the ground
•     Protect vegetable gardens with heavy-duty garden fences or place vegetable plants in a greenhouse.