Taylor Mitchell, Singer-Songwriter, Killed By Coyotes On Hike In Canadian Park

TORONTO — Two coyotes attacked a promising young musician as she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries. The victim was identified as Taylor Mitchell, 19, a singer-songwriter from Toronto who was touring her new album on the East Coast.

She was hiking solo on a trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia on Tuesday when the attack occurred. She was airlifted to a Halifax hospital in critical condition and died Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Coyotes, which also are known as prairie wolves, are found from Central America to the United States and Canada.

Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft said coyote attacks are extremely rare because the animals are usually shy.

Bancroft, a retired biologist with Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources, said it's possible the coyotes thought Mitchell was a deer or other prey.

"It's very unusual and is not likely to be repeated," Bancroft said. "We shouldn't assume that coyotes are suddenly going to become the big bad wolf."

Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Brigdit Leger said other hikers heard Mitchell's screams for help on Tuesday and called emergency police dispatchers.

Police who were in the area reached the scene quickly and shot one of the animals, apparently wounding it. But the wounded animal and a companion coyote managed to get away.

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Paul Maynard of Emergency Health Services said Mitchell already was in critical condition when paramedics arrived on the scene and had multiple bite wounds over her entire body.

"She was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds," he said.

An official with Parks Canada said they blocked the entrance to the trail where Mitchell was attacked and were trying to find the animals to determine what prompted such an unusual attack.

"There's been some reports of aggressive animals, so it's not unknown," said Helene Robichaud, the park's superintendent. "But we certainly never have had anything so dramatic and tragic."

Mitchell was an up-and-coming folk and country musician who was nominated for a 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award in the Young Performer of the Year category.

"Words can't begin to express the sadness and tragedy of losing such a sweet, compassionate, vibrant, and phenomenally talented young woman," Lisa Weitz, Mitchell's manager, said in an e-mail. "She just turned 19 two months ago, and was so excited about the future."

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On the Net:

Taylor Mitchell's Web site: http://www.taylormitchell.ca

http://www.myspace.com/taylormitchellband

Comments

[niko73]

OdinsEye, thanks for the info.

I find it quite entertaining that all these people are so SURE it couldn't be those cute little coyotes. Come on guys. Coyotes are wild animals. Wild animals can be dangerous in some situations. It's okay. We can still like them.

[callings]

this is very tragic, and very odd. We lived in the wilds of Wyoming for a decade, and I worked in the back country, alone, a lot. This is NOT anything like typical coyote behavior. If chanced upon, their first reaction is flight. Rarely ,they might nip or bite and run. but to kill and adult human..... this smells funny to me. Yes, it could be a random event, but nothing about it coincides with my not inconsiderable experience. On the property where I worked, there were dens of coyotes, and we knew where each other were, and kept an eye on one another. I felt more accompanied than threatened. Coyotes are extremely adaptable (they live in LA for Christ's sake) and they are omnivorous. Scarcity of small game would not result in a sudden taste for human prey. I just don't buy it.

[Scout 1]

I agree with the comment above. I have lived in the country for 20 years surrounded by coyotes.
Never once on any of my solo hikes have they come near me. They are always in the same areas, in protected dips or gulches on the edge of our property - when I hike it whether I'm with our dogs
or alone, they move out never coming in contact with us. I also don't buy this story as it's written.
Something big is missing here. Was there an injured cub nearby and she approached? Even then
they would do a warning nip and she could have waved her arms and grabbed a stick for protection.

Who really knows but sad her life ended like that. I just wonder what really happened.

P.S. I once came out of the woods later than expected and as it got dark many, many coyotes were singing and howing around me. It was spooky for the first time, because I never saw them hiking in
and there they were all of a sudden once the sun went down (couldn't see them only heard them) and they were in much larger numbers that day then before. I hiked out just fine and none of them approached me. I've always known them to keep their distance. That's after 20 years and many hikes in their habitat area.

[OdinsEye]

Well, as I have shown down thread, coyote attacks on humans are definitely not unheard of. In fact they had a previous attack in that very park.

[muhair]

I'd wonder what's going on that habitat, if the coyote's natural prey is on the decline. Seems the act of hunger-crazed animals. Also, the only coyotes I've observed have been solo. Is this teamwork aspect atypical?

[OdinsEye]

While coyotes frequently hunt alone, they are also known to hunt in pairs and packs.

[hrholmes]

coyote attack, other people in the area close enough to hear.... something just ain't right here about this story. I am sorry for the young budding star and her family.

[booki]

i hope this is investigated.
as you said;;;;;;­;;;;;;;;;;­;;'"someth­ing aint right here."

[Tresco]

Any wolf relocation projects in the area? Relocated wolves might have no fear of people. The authorieies may not want to admit it could have been relocated wolves. This does mot sound like any coyotes I've ever heard of.

[OdinsEye]

And more:

"While California has incurred far more coyote attacks on humans than other states, the problem
seems to be arising and possibly increasing in other states. We currently have documentation of at least 17
coyote attacks on humans from 16 states (other than California) and 4 Canadian provinces; essentially all of
these incidents occurred during the period 1988 through 2006 (Table 1). Most of these incidents are known
to us as a result of media reports from newspapers. We have intentionally excluded all incidents in which the
attacking coyote was proven to be rabid."

[OdinsEye]

More data from California:

"From our most recent data set of coyote incidents from 1977 through 2004, our analysis determined
the following trends:
• 74% of coyote attack incidents occurred in the last decade (1995 through 2004)
• Injury to one or more persons occurred in 78 of 165 attack incidents
• 51% of the persons sustaining injury were adults or teenagers"

[OdinsEye]

More:

"Attack Data from California
Baker and Timm (1998) summarized coyote-human safety incidents from 1988 through 1997 in
California involving 53 individuals in 16 locations, in which 21 individuals suffered coyote bites. We
provided detailed case histories on 13 incidents or clusters of incidents, while noting that more than 32 other individuals experienced human safety incidents with habituated or aggressive coyotes during this same period. Six years later, Timm et al. (2004) were able to document 89 coyote incidents from California during the period 1978 through 2003, of which 48 had occurred from 1998 through 2003, indicating an obvious increase through time (Figure 1)." - Coyotes Nipping At Our Heels: A New Suburban Dilemma

[OdinsEye]

From March of this year:

"Since December, four people in the Denver area have been nipped or bitten by coyotes. A fifth told police a coyote lunged at him."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/29/urban-coyote-attacks-on-r_n_180501.html

That is just one metro area's experience over a four month time frame.

[SiberianRat]

Are they SURE it was coyotes?? We have coyotes in much of the western US and while they'll attack pets and small calves, people are pretty much not on the list. I have been jogging in the morning and encountered coyotes and they immediately run away.

[OdinsEye]

Yes. They are sure.

[Ken Freedom]

I was talking about this with a friend, and we're wondering if she tried to feed them. That would explain how this could have happened.

[Count Baccula]

This seems like a reasonable scenario. I am curious as to what really happened, I found another link that mentions that this is only the second recorded fatality due to coyotes in North America. That seems amazing that there have been so few, but calls into question what happened to her.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1150025.html

[DCDave]

Apparently Coyote are all over the east coast of the US at this point. They have moved east since there are no more Wolves in the area. The advice I saw on one Website was to look them in the eye and act big and make alot of noise, and never run.

Still its crazy this happened to this poor woman.

lol also statistically I saw that like 75% of the people bitten by animals are white men. So its a statistical anamoly as well.

[Michael Rappaport]

Not to be critical, but I'm not sure that statistic means much other than the fact that most of the people in situations to be bitten by animals are men, especially out in nature.

[bushlies]

They're all over the Connecticut area where my in-laws live. People up there are pretty concerned about them. If you run into just one of them, I think you'll be okay if you just stand still and wait for the animal to leave. In packs, they can be pretty aggressive. (When we lived in Texas, we were warned about them when we were in Big Bend Park).

The biggest concern I'd have is they could be rabid and vicious because of the disease.

Horrible story, whatever happened.

[mesowhiny]

I for one blame Alanis Morissette. Coyotes packs all over Canada were needlessly exposed to her shameless self promotion and apparently couldn't risk Ms. Mitchell following her footsteps.

[Baggaratz]

I was in Cape Breton Highlands National Park very recently, while attending the Celtic Colours Festival. I wonder if Ms. Mitchell was there for the festival as well. This is a very sad story and I wish the photo wasn't one of her walking in the woods! :-(

[FoxtrotAlpha]

Information on Eastern Coyotes in the Cape Breton area.... apparently they have mixed with wolf stock through the years.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ns/cbreton/natcul/natcul1/c/i/a.aspx