Back-to-back coyote attacks along walking path spur California city to close trails

Coyotes don’t normally faze Laura Wittmer on her morning runs along a Southern California nature trail.

“I see coyotes almost every morning,” Wittmer said, KCBS reported. “They don’t usually scare me … but I don’t go toward them.”

On Saturday morning, a coyote bit her on the calf as she ran in the bicycle lane along the Jeronimo Open Space trail in Mission Viejo, according to the station.

“I didn’t even see this one,” Wittmer said, KCBS reported. She smacked it with her water bottle.

“I turned around and looked at it, and he kind of looked at me like, ‘why’d you hit me’ and I kind of looked at him like, ‘why’d you bite me?’”

The coyote fled, and Wittmer called 911 for a ride to her vehicle and drove herself to a hospital, according to the station.

At 6:30 a.m., a coyote bit a man on the ankle while he was walking on the trail, The Orange County Register reported. No further information about that incident was available.

Mission Viejoo closed Jeronimo Open Space trails following the attacks, a city Facebook post says.

“Mission Viejo Animal Services Center is working with the Department of Fish & Wildlife on this matter and the trails have been closed temporarily,” the post reads.

“Please be aware and vigilant when you are out on the trails where wildlife is prevalent,” says the post.

The open space runs between suburban neighborhoods in Mission Viejo, part of Orange County south of Los Angeles. The city has a population of 95,000.

Coyote attacks on humans are very rare, according to the Humane Society.

“More people are killed by errant golf balls and flying champagne corks each year than are bitten by coyotes,” according to the organization. There are only two recorded cases of people being killed by coyotes in the United States and Canada.

Coyotes are nocturnal and normally avoid people, but they can become habituated to humans by eating handouts, unsecured pet food or garbage, the society says.

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Back-to-back coyote attacks along walking path spur California city to close trails."