On October 27, 2009, 19 year-old, Canadian singer-songwriter, Taylor Mitchell, from Toronto, was hiking alone during the afternoon on the Skyline Trail in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Cape Breton Island, outside Iverness, Nova Scotia.
During her hike, she was thought to have been attacked by two coyotes, which were photographed by two other hikers that Taylor had met just minutes before the attack.
After hearing human screams and coyote howls, the two hikers reported their findings to an additional group of hikers which were headed in the same direction as Taylor. Just after the attack, the additional group of hikers came across the gruesome scene and found Taylor's car keys and camera on the trail, which authorities later believed were thrown at the coyotes in attempt to ward off their attack and scare them away.
The group discovered blood evidence on the trail leading to bloody handprints on the locked door of a restroom facility near a clearing at the head of a trail that Taylor was assumed to have taken. It appeared that Taylor had tried to seek refuge inside the restroom to escape the coyotes. One member of the group described a scene where one of the coyotes (later identified as C3) remained, guarding Taylor's semi-conscious body, found about ten yards away on the edge of the woods. The hikers made numerous attempts to scare it away but it stayed within a few yards and seemed totally unafraid of humans and unwilling to leave. After they called 911, they managed to get to Taylor to help her.
An officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrived on the scene first and fired two shotgun blasts at the animal, wounding it, but not fatally. When emergency crews arrived, she was taken to a hospital in Cheticamp and then airlifted to Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax in critical condition. She died overnight as a result of trauma from massive blood loss.
Later that day and the following, park staff located and killed seven coyotes in the area.
Three coyotes were identifed and linked to the attack, two from the hikers photograph which matched fur markings and the third thought to the females offspring. Necropsies were performed on the bodies of all the animals and DNA tests run. The female identifed as (C1) and the adult male(C2) as well as a younger adult male(C3) were found to have significant DNA from the Eastern Grey Wolf (Timber). This breed is referred to as Eastern coyotes. The female(C1) and male adult(C2) had no markers in common suggesting they were alpha mates. The younger male adult (C3) had DNA markers of both the female alpha and male alpha. The necropsie on the female adult also found human tissue and blood in her digestive system. Exterior blood samples taken from the fur of the two males matched Taylor's DNA. Coyote (C3), also had multiple pellet wounds from buckshot fired from the shotgun of the RMCP officer.
"In an earlier interview with The Gazette, Brad White, a coyote expert at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. said they might have been coyote-wolf hybrids. However, Don Anderson a biologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources said he saw no reason to suspect the animals were coyote-wolf crosses." DNA evidence later proved him wrong. Don Anderson also noted there were no wolves in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Earlier in the investigation, Stan Gehrt, a coyote expert at Ohio State University's school of environment and natural resources suggested that the coyotes were rabid. No evidence of rabies were found in the necropsies. The necropsies also showed that all of the coyotes were mature adults and in better than average health for fall animals.
"Bob Bancroft, a Nova Scotia wildlife biologist, had suggested that the coyotes were inexperienced hunters - hungry and desperate yearlings (both later disputed by physical evidence)- and that their predatory instinct was triggered by the singer fleeing instead of standing her ground."
While this may have been the case, the grey wolf DNA suggested another scenario. The full grown, physically strong coyotes which were linked directly to the attack by blood evidence were nearly twice the size of Western coyotes, had thicker, more muscular muzzles, and the longer canine teeth of wolves. They displayed absolutely no fear of humans and could not be dispearsed by physical means such as rocks being thrown at them or yelling. Even when fired at by a shotgun, the younger coyote stood its ground near Taylor's body. They also stared directly into the eyes of the hiker photographer as as shown by the photograph.
Mitchell was the first adult killed and only the second fatal coyote attack on a human ever recorded in North America. The first attack occurred in the United States in August 1981, when 3 year old Kelly Keen was attacked by a coyote outside her home in Glendale, California, United States.
Sources:
Killed By Coyotes, Televised Episode of National Geographic, broadcast 2/18/2011 on the NGC. A televised National Geographic Channel update of events that had occurred in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, based on DNA results not reported or known in at the time of previous publications.
Wikipedia: Taylor Mitchell.
During her hike, she was thought to have been attacked by two coyotes, which were photographed by two other hikers that Taylor had met just minutes before the attack.
After hearing human screams and coyote howls, the two hikers reported their findings to an additional group of hikers which were headed in the same direction as Taylor. Just after the attack, the additional group of hikers came across the gruesome scene and found Taylor's car keys and camera on the trail, which authorities later believed were thrown at the coyotes in attempt to ward off their attack and scare them away.
The group discovered blood evidence on the trail leading to bloody handprints on the locked door of a restroom facility near a clearing at the head of a trail that Taylor was assumed to have taken. It appeared that Taylor had tried to seek refuge inside the restroom to escape the coyotes. One member of the group described a scene where one of the coyotes (later identified as C3) remained, guarding Taylor's semi-conscious body, found about ten yards away on the edge of the woods. The hikers made numerous attempts to scare it away but it stayed within a few yards and seemed totally unafraid of humans and unwilling to leave. After they called 911, they managed to get to Taylor to help her.
An officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrived on the scene first and fired two shotgun blasts at the animal, wounding it, but not fatally. When emergency crews arrived, she was taken to a hospital in Cheticamp and then airlifted to Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax in critical condition. She died overnight as a result of trauma from massive blood loss.
Later that day and the following, park staff located and killed seven coyotes in the area.
Three coyotes were identifed and linked to the attack, two from the hikers photograph which matched fur markings and the third thought to the females offspring. Necropsies were performed on the bodies of all the animals and DNA tests run. The female identifed as (C1) and the adult male(C2) as well as a younger adult male(C3) were found to have significant DNA from the Eastern Grey Wolf (Timber). This breed is referred to as Eastern coyotes. The female(C1) and male adult(C2) had no markers in common suggesting they were alpha mates. The younger male adult (C3) had DNA markers of both the female alpha and male alpha. The necropsie on the female adult also found human tissue and blood in her digestive system. Exterior blood samples taken from the fur of the two males matched Taylor's DNA. Coyote (C3), also had multiple pellet wounds from buckshot fired from the shotgun of the RMCP officer.
"In an earlier interview with The Gazette, Brad White, a coyote expert at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. said they might have been coyote-wolf hybrids. However, Don Anderson a biologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources said he saw no reason to suspect the animals were coyote-wolf crosses." DNA evidence later proved him wrong. Don Anderson also noted there were no wolves in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Earlier in the investigation, Stan Gehrt, a coyote expert at Ohio State University's school of environment and natural resources suggested that the coyotes were rabid. No evidence of rabies were found in the necropsies. The necropsies also showed that all of the coyotes were mature adults and in better than average health for fall animals.
"Bob Bancroft, a Nova Scotia wildlife biologist, had suggested that the coyotes were inexperienced hunters - hungry and desperate yearlings (both later disputed by physical evidence)- and that their predatory instinct was triggered by the singer fleeing instead of standing her ground."
While this may have been the case, the grey wolf DNA suggested another scenario. The full grown, physically strong coyotes which were linked directly to the attack by blood evidence were nearly twice the size of Western coyotes, had thicker, more muscular muzzles, and the longer canine teeth of wolves. They displayed absolutely no fear of humans and could not be dispearsed by physical means such as rocks being thrown at them or yelling. Even when fired at by a shotgun, the younger coyote stood its ground near Taylor's body. They also stared directly into the eyes of the hiker photographer as as shown by the photograph.
Mitchell was the first adult killed and only the second fatal coyote attack on a human ever recorded in North America. The first attack occurred in the United States in August 1981, when 3 year old Kelly Keen was attacked by a coyote outside her home in Glendale, California, United States.
Sources:
Killed By Coyotes, Televised Episode of National Geographic, broadcast 2/18/2011 on the NGC. A televised National Geographic Channel update of events that had occurred in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, based on DNA results not reported or known in at the time of previous publications.
Wikipedia: Taylor Mitchell.
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lol sounds like someone needs to hit the range. Especially if it wasn't moving away and was standing its ground there.. sounds like an easy target.
