A New Hampshire man fought and killed a coyote that attacked his family on Monday, local police departments confirmed.
Ian O’Reilly and his family were taking a walk on a trail near a pond when a coyote attacked one of his three children. O’Reilly kicked the animal away from the 2-year-old before choking the animal to death.
There was no interest in it going away. [I] ultimately had to make the decision to become the aggressor and jumped on it, attacked it and [got] it to the ground,” O’Reilly said. “When I was able to get on top of it, I put my hand on its snout so it wasn’t able to attack me. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground, so I shoved the face into the snow and then eventually was able [to] put my hand on its snout and expire it through suffocation. Ultimately one hand on its windpipe and one hand on its snout did the trick.
O’Reilly said he was bitten in the arm and chest during the 10-minute struggle. The child was also bit, but luckily the coyote bite did not break the skin, due to the snowsuit the child was wearing.
The coyote is being tested for rabies. It had been reported for additional attacks earlier that day. The father and son are also being treated for rabies, just in case.
The same coyote was also responsible for recently attacking a dog, a car and attempting to attack another human.
