Coyotes have attacked people in at least two recent incidents in Swampscott, Massachusetts and both victims said the animals approached them in busy commercial areas.
Kathy Ellis and her sister had just finished up eating dinner at Bertucci’s over the weekend and were just about to get into their car when Ellis felt something at her leg.
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"I felt a hard bump against my thigh," she said. "Thinking it was a puppy or a dog I turned around and my sister said I screamed. I saw this huge coyote standing there looking at me."
She didn’t even realize she had a puncture wound from the coyote.
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"I had a can of seltzer water in my hand and I threw it at him to get him away from the door," she said. "Slammed the door shut and was just kind of staring at him. He picked up the can and he started to trot away."
Ellis is on vacation from Texas and visiting family in Massachusetts for the Fourth of July.
"This was not part of the holiday plan at all," she said.
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She isn’t the only one who's been attacked by a coyote in this busy commercial area in Swampscott.
"I thought it was a horsefly or some kind bug at first," said John Malafronte. "I turned my head and I wasn’t expecting a coyote that’s for sure."
A couple of weeks ago, Malafronte had just pulled over to have a cigarette in the shopping plaza across the street from Bertucci’s when a coyote came right up to him.
"Either he wins or I win,” said Malafronte. "I’ll be darned if he’s going to win.”
Malafronte was bitten in the leg. He used a pole in his truck to shoo the coyote away.
"As he walked away he looked at me like yeah I got you," said Malafronte. "I called the police, paramedics came."
Both victims are getting a series of rabies shots and warning shoppers in the area to be very aware that coyotes are out and about even in busy parking lots.
Coyotes are often seen living in suburban or urban areas but are generally afraid of people, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. They are known to prey on livestock and unattended pets.
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