Brookfield resident raises alarm after she and her dog encircled by coyotes

A woman living  in the Brookfield neighbourhood of Sault Ste. Marie says she was terrified when three coyotes surrounded her while she was walking her dog recently.

Reached by phone on Sunday, Tracey Richards told SooToday she and her 16-pound dog Bud didn't expect to come face-to-face with three coyotes while walking early on Sunday morning.

Richards said when she saw the first coyote, she assumed it was a husky dog.

"I didn't really pay too much attention to it, but I was being observant and then I turned my head and there was another husky dog to my right and then I looked forward to where my dog was barking and there was another one, so they're in a triangle around us," said Richards. 

Now realizing she was being surrounded, Richards and her dog began walking backwards toward her home.

"One coyote started coming at us and I screamed bloody murder and it kind of went away for a bit and retreated," said Richards. "Then it started to come after us again and I started screaming again and luckily my husband and a neighbour had heard me."

Richards said her husband Ryan shined a high-powered flashlight into the areas where she saw the coyotes and their eyes reflected back at him.

Richards shared a warning on a local Facebook group and received a number of replies.

"There's 152 comments on my post and people are talking about them, seeing them around the creek near St. Francis School," she said.

Through those discussions she heard there has actually been four coyotes sighted in the area, making her wonder where the fourth was during her early morning encounter on Sunday.

"It was a scary thing afterwards, knowing there were four but only seeing three," she said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says if you encounter an aggressive coyote, there are several things you should know and do:

• Never approach or touch a coyote
• Do not turn your back on, or run from a coyote
• Back away from the coyote while remaining calm
• Stand tall, wave your hands and make lots of noise
• Carry a flashlight at night to scare off coyotes
• If a coyote poses an immediate threat or danger to public safety, call 911

It seems Richards' instincts were correct in the situation.

"After we came home and I settled down, my husband Googled it and you said, you did what you needed to do — walk backwards, make yourself big and scream," she said.