News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Coyotes rarely behave aggressively toward humans.
Cycling over the McKenzie Pass can be an exciting, exhilarating experience. For Adrienne Banks, her ride up to the Dee Wright Observatory provided a little more excitement than she had bargained for.
She was heading back down the highway toward Sisters about 12:30 p.m., when she heard something strange.
"I heard this clicking on the road behind me, and I looked down and thought, 'Oh my god! There's a dog chasing me.'"
She quickly realized that the "dog" was a coyote - and it was after a piece of cyclist. The coyote nipped the heel of her cycling shoe but couldn't get any purchase, since Banks was clipped into her pedals.
"I was screaming, because I didn't think it would listen to me say 'No!'" Banks said.
The coyote chased her for about 50 yards before giving it up.
"I was just shocked," the cyclist said. "I was in disbelief."
Banks called the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), not sure that they'd take her seriously. But it turns out that coyote incidents such as this are not unheard of.
"(It's) not totally unusual," said ODFW Wildlife biologist Stephen George. "I hear of it occasionally, where a coyote is acting really aggressive or weird. Horseback riders will call in and tell about being followed for long distances, to the point where they go after the horses."
George said that since Banks described the coyote as being very thin, it could have been so hungry that its natural caution fled.
Naturalist Jim Anderson finds that hard to believe.
"That would be extremely rare," he said. "Coyotes are just not that way. They're not that bold."
The first thought that comes to mind is the fearful specter of rabies. However, George said that was unlikely. Incidences of rabies are low in the state and rabid coyotes are rare. Banks didn't describe any symptomatic behavior.
Anderson wonders if the animal could have been a "coy-dog" - a coyote crossbred with a dog.
"Those are awful," he said.
George thinks that is "always a strong potential, especially that close to people. The crossbreeding has been more of an issue because they (coyotes) will breed with feral dogs."
Coy-dogs can be more aggressive than a coyote would normally be.
George recommends that anyone going out into the woods take safety precautions against encounters with aggressive wildlife - rare as those are. He suggests that cyclists and hikers might want to include pepper spray in their gear to deter aggressive animals.
Banks feels fortunate to have escaped injury, though not so much from the jaws of the coyote.
"I'm just grateful there weren't any cars coming up the other way, because I swerved into the other lane," she said. "I didn't fall off my bicycle. I was really lucky."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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