http://www.bladeforums.com/for...wthread.php?t=686734
Sad story .Hiking with someone, with a stout hiking staff and large knife would have greatly improved the odds.

When i click on the link it puts up a login page. Can you post the story please? Dan

Coyotes kill Toronto singer in Cape Breton
Park official says 1 coyote dead, staff looking for 2nd animal
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | 4:42 PM AT Comments522Recommend428
CBC News
Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, was on tour in the Maritimes. Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, was on tour in the Maritimes. (Eric Thom)

A 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto has died after being attacked by two coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Taylor Mitchell, who was on tour in the Maritimes, died overnight at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

Mitchell was hiking on the Skyline Trail when she was attacked Tuesday afternoon. She was taken to the hospital in Cheticamp, then airlifted to Halifax in critical condition.

Park officials said Mitchell was walking the trail alone. They said other hikers managed to scare off the coyotes and call 911.

An RCMP officer shot at one of the animals but couldn't find the body. Later Tuesday evening, park staff located another coyote and killed it. Derek Quann, the park's resource conservation manager, said he doesn't know whether it was one of the ones involved in the attack. He said there were no signs on the animal's body that it had been shot.

Quann said he believes there are five or six coyotes in the area. Park staff were still trying to track down the other coyote involved in the attack Wednesday.

"One of the individuals may be dead now and may have gone off into the woods and died after some distance," said Quann.
Rare attack

Bob Bancroft, a retired biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, said this kind of attack is extremely rare and he's never heard of such a serious case in Nova Scotia.

He said coyotes, which are normally up to 50 pounds, are usually very shy, though they can be bold.

Wildlife warnings

Coyotes can be found in rural and urban area across Canada. They often shy away from humans, but if one does approach, here's what to do:

* Be aggressive yourself: Wave your arms, stomp and yell loudly in a deep voice to deter it from coming closer.
* Stand your ground: Stay where you are and look it in the eye. Never run away; it is more likely to consider you prey, give chase and seriously harm you.
* Be prepared: The best defence is a good offence; carry a whistle, flashlight and/or personal alarm. This is especially important for small children who play outside or walk to school in areas where coyotes have been spotted.
* Stay together: If you are walking in an area that has high coyote activity, never do so without a companion.
* Don't lure them with food: Coyotes are scavengers. If you have pets, feed them inside the house rather than leaving food outside, don’t leave meat scraps or products in compost buckets outside your house, keep regular compost in an enclosed area and ensure garbage bins have tight resealable lids to keep out animals.

"In situations like a national park [where] usually there's no hunting and no trapping allowed, they can get used to a human presence and not have much fear of any retribution," Bancroft told CBC News.

It's unclear what happened in the woods on Tuesday.

When park staff arrived, Mitchell was already en route to Sacred Heart Hospital in Cheticamp, said Quann.

Bancroft said coyotes team up to take down deer, and it's possible the hiker didn't even realize what was happening.

"They may have snuck up on her and knocked her over before she even knew what happened," he said. "They may have been youngsters. They just may not have had a lot of experience, or they may have just capitalized on a situation where a young person was acting vulnerable and very frightened by their presence."

He said there's a slight possibility that the animals had rabies.

Quann said the coyotes might have been hungry or might have been protecting a kill. He said the animals that park staff saw Tuesday night were "quite agitated."

"Our experience in the past for any aggressive coyote which has been submitted for analysis, we haven't had one come back yet as having testing positive for something like rabies, although sometimes they will come back being emaciated animals, perhaps desperate and hungry," he said.

Bancroft had his own run-in with a coyote several years ago when he was alone in the woods.

"A coyote came straight at me. It happened very, very quickly. It stopped and I just stood my ground, I didn't act," he said. "It actually regrouped and charged again. And I think the fact that I didn't act like a prey item convinced it to leave me alone."

Bancroft advises hikers to be alert and leave their iPods at home. He also suggests carrying a knife.

The Skyline Trail, one of the most popular trails in the park, has been closed and barricaded.

On other reports, it sounds as though other hikers heard her screams, but instead of going to the rescue, they called police. Don't know if that might have made a difference.

Old gun friendly canadian officials. Carry a knife EH! carry a shotgun it works better. I carry one hiking or fishing and because of the stupid rules i don't visit national parks

Gunbug,
This was, of course, in a national park. The situation would be the same in any national park in Canada or the US. Firearms are not allowed although anyone can, of course, carry them in contrevention of the law if he so desires.
SGraves155,
Of course it made a difference. While they waited for the RCMP to arrived, that girl was further mauled to the extent that she died. Regards, Bill.

I am informed that President of the U.S.A., Barak Obama, just SIGNED a "bill" that will ALLOW Americans to carry guns in THEIR national parks.......never happen here as our azzholes in politics are WORSE than theirs!

Come Feb. We well beable to carry firearms in national parks in the US. A great day for firearms freedoms.

I killed many yotes in traps with a 2 foot chunk of hickory shovel handle one good wack between the ear and the eye put them out.

A good bowie with a 8 plus inch blade would do great damage to a yote if one knew how to use it.

My hiking staff is a 4'6 inch hickory rake handle with fiber glass reinforcement bottom 18 inchs and a 5 in .375 dia steel tip. After breaking a lesser one stopping the side down a mountain I made something stronger. Kind of heavey but I have had it for years and stopped my self many times with it.

One could wack very well with it.