Coyote chases fifth grader walking her dog in Hingham
HINGHAM – Town residents are on high alert after a coyote followed and then chased a fifth grader who was walking her dog before school Tuesday morning.
"The coyote went after her," said Alison Fabella.
Chris Tomecek said his home security camera captured the coyote running toward the girl down Flintlock Circle. He ran outside to scare off the coyote, yelling, "Get out of here!"
"It started to pick up speed," Tomecek said.
"We saw a friend just sprinting down the street with her dog and we're like, 'What's happening?' " said Jake LeBretton. "Then there's a giant coyote just sprinting after her and she's just screaming. She was just so scared."
The girl and her dog were not hurt during the encounter, but it happened just a week after Fabella, who lives in the neighborhood, had a close call of her own with a coyote.
"It turned and it began to pursue myself, as well as my dog," Fabella said.
Police: Dog killed, man bitten in back-to-back coyote attacks in Cohasset
Animal control officers responded during both incidents, urging neighbors to take precautions. But because the coyotes do not appear to be sick and have not attacked a person, the officers said options are limited.
"I'm not going to let our kids out unsupervised any longer," said Matt LeBretton. "We kiss our kids goodbye in the morning. We send them to school. We don't think they might be food for coyotes."
Hingham Animal Control said neighbors could hire a licensed professional to trap the coyotes, but noted that might be difficult in a suburban neighborhood.
Police say a man and multiple dogs were mauled in separate coyote attacks near a popular walking trail in Cohasset last month.
One of the dog’s did not survive.
Cohasset Police say they responded to two separate calls for coyote attacks in the early morning hours of August 27.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hingham residents on edge after encounters with aggressive coyotes
