Here is the link to vid/article too.

People in the YouTube comments are sayin it just wanted to play. Good grief.

article with video showing coyote stalking the child

Wont see that in a disney movie

I am curious on this one. I wish there were a better angle from the camera. The yote had every advantage and opportunity over the little gal even coming close enough to touch her but didn’t sink any teeth or even nip. Curious.

Osky

There was a lawn mower coming down the street right when he got to her.... but it seemed like he had time to get to her, but somehow didn't.

Ams I had noticed that and That may be the answer. I have watched from distances on western spreads and once they commit on livestock or game they get pretty one track minded and at least get a bite in if they get that close. They said it touched her, couldn’t see that in the video very clearly.
Your probably right.

Osky

It looks like she has a dress on and the bottom of the dress was flopping around . The coyote may have focused on the dress and may also have nipped at it and spooked off

It maybe that she turned around at the right moment. JMO

Yote didn’t get excited till she ran triggering a predatory response. We had another small girl bit by a yote in aurora earlier this summer.That one could have ended badly. Also caught on a security camera. That yote targeted her. It’s on facebook. To many yotes.

That yote wasn't there looking at the flowers

They are correct that the coyote did want to play with her, they are incorrect in thinking that the coyote would not have done serious damage or even killed that girl during the play. I have seen similar behavior firsthand and the object of play did not survive.

Keith

Out of curiosity Keith, how can you tell playful behavior vs predatory behavior? Was there something that tipped you off from your experiences with Katie?

If the coyote just wanted to kill and eat the kid, it would of just done it. They are many times faster than a small child. Coyotes know how to kill. They know how to grab and dispatch prey. When my coyote, Katie, wants to kill a rodent, large insect or bird, she just goes full tilt towards it, bites it a few times, unless it moves in which case she shakes it and then immediately eats it.

Otherwise she acts very similar to a pet cat with a mouse. She catches the prey, lets it run off pounces on it, lets it go catches it repeatedly, runs off from it, stalks and catches it again. She frequently throws it too. It's fun for Katie and no fun for the prey.

If allowed to continue with the little girl, the coyote would most likely have bitten her many, many times. They play rough with creatures they have no attachment to.

Katie plays very differently with my dog Althea. They wrestle, rough house and chase each other, but the body language is vastly different. They play bow to each other a lot. They make lots of eye contact and greatly exaggerate their actions, such as biting, while slowing them down. They also don't often close their mouths all the way. It looks very fake, like really bad professional wrestling. Most of the moves are very clearly forecast and the other one plays along with it and hams it up. They have never hurt each other or got mad at each other.

Keith

My wife and daughter were mushroom hunting in a woods close to our home and were confronted by 3 coyotes and both say they were not there to play ,That was last fall ,Guess what 2 did the same in the same woods last week only stayed back a little farther , seemed to be sizing them up .

Attacks on children by coyotes are going to get more common in the US and most likely much more damaging. Our ancestors had enough sense to kill all predators that approached them and their property, especially livestock. Predators were conditioned to avoid people, if they survived the encounter. More importantly, the predators that survived passed on genes that made their progeny avoid contact with people.

Now the more successful predators, which pass on more genes, are the ones that live in close proximity to humans, where most of the food is. Losing the fear of humans, makes predators more likely to play roughly with vulnerable humans and even prey on them, once they learn humans are meat.

We as a species need to harden our hearts and start dealing with threats again, animal or otherwise.

Keith

That's what I was thinking. It came in hard and fast, when she turned, and the dress bottom flared up, it flared off. Glad that little girl is safe. Wish it would've happened in California. And... wish someone would've dropped it with an AR-15.... all on camera.

Many dogs would have done exactly the same thing. The yote only took after her when she ran away, and then quit when she turned around. Did NOT "stalk her" in her yard. Regardless, human-coyote conflicts are on the increase and will continue to increase until actions are taken. It's ironic revenge on the suburbanites and urbanites who forced wolves down the throats of western ranchers.

It's worth noting, dogs kill 30 to 50 people a year in the US. The pit next door is more of a threat than the Yotes.
The vast majority of attacks on pets, chickens, etc that I have personally dealt with here that were blamed on Coyotes turned out to be dogs.
I'm certainly not defending Coyotes, just putting things in perspective.