P.E.I. woman sounding alarm after 2 encounters with aggressive coyotes
CBC
A dairy farmer in P.E.I. is warning people about coyotes in the area after having two run-ins with the animals on her property since May.
It's something provincial biologists say could happen more frequently as the Island's growing population and more development change the animals' behaviour.
Heather Dickieson said her first encounter with coyotes on her farm in North Rustico happened early in the morning.
She was walking with her three dogs when they came across a "very upset" coyote. She said it was within 10 feet of her and looked like it wanted to fight.
When she turned around to head the other way, she saw a second coyote. The pair had Dickieson and her dogs surrounded, and she said the coyotes were "not scared at all."
"They were snarling, growling, hunched back, lunging, circling us from side to side," she said. "All I could do was scream."
She said the coyotes chased her 13-year-old Labrador off, and she was able to leave with her two Siberian huskies. Dickieson said her husband rushed over in his truck, saving their Labrador and chasing the two coyotes off.
After this encounter, Dickieson said she changed her walking habits. She switched locations to avoid running into the coyotes and started bringing a whistle and bear spray with her.
But two weeks ago, it happened again.
Dickieson was walking her dogs along the tree line on her farm when two coyotes approached. One started chasing her Labrador, and the other stayed, watching Dickieson and the two huskies.
"I thought for sure there was going to be a dog fight with my dogs," she said.
Like the first time, her husband came rushing over in his truck, saved the Labrador and scared the coyotes off.
Dickieson has been farming in the North Rustico area for decades, and said she's never seen anything like this.
While the number of coyotes on the Island is not necessarily increasing, Garry Gregory, a biologist with P.E.I.'s forest, fish and wildlife division, said interactions between people and coyotes are likely to happen more often.
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