OAKVILLE, Ont. - Wildlife experts are asking residents in Oakville to be cautious but peaceful in their own backyards after a coyote jumped a fence and bit an eight-year-old girl on the leg.
It happened just before 4 p.m. Thursday on a pathway behind Cannonridge Circle.
Halton police said the girl was bitten by the animal and then chased to her home. Her injuries are not considered serious.
Officers from Halton police and Oakville Animal Control located the coyote and the animal was shot. However, they discovered more than one set of paw prints in the area and are warning residents to be careful when walking in the area.
"[Coyotes] are the predominant animal on the landscape in the wintertime," Liz White, director of Animal Alliance of Canada, told 680News. "They're going to be in our community whether we want them to or not. We need to figure out how to co-exist with them peacefully, and we need to figure out how to deal with the interaction."
She says lethal force is not the answer, as removing one coyote out of a population of many does nothing to solve the problem. Furthermore, it is impossible to tell if officers caught the offending coyote, since they all look alike.
For those who come face-to-face with a coyote, she recommends making "big noises, yelling, carrying on. Make yourself as big as possible and as loud and noisy and obnoxious as possible to scare them away."
"Most coyotes are very shy, and are often very frightened of people."
In addition, she suggests keeping dogs and cats inside, as well as small changes such as getting rid of bird feeders which attract mice, rats and squirrels - a huge part of the coyote's diet. Keeping trash away also helps.
"We need to figure out how to deal with our garbage in a way that does not leave it out so that it attracts animals. We need to encourage people in the community as best we possibly can not to feed [them]."