[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A surf camera captured the terrifying moment a toddler was viciously attacked by a coyote on a California beach this week.
According to KMPH, the horrible incident went down on Thursday at around 9:45 p.m. at Huntington Beach in Orange County when a mom took her two children for a quick swim in the ocean. A surf camera caught the moment the coyote jumped on the little girl’s face and immediately knocked her to the ground. In the video, it looked like the animal rolled her around – at one point even leaping off the little one before pouncing back on top of her body. After at least 15 seconds, a woman turned her head and noticed the ambush before the coyote finally got scared away.
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Another fair warning, the contents of the video are very graphic! Take a look (below):
The young girl was rushed to the local hospital with “serious” but “non-life-threatening” injuries, The Huntington Beach Police Department shared on Facebook Friday. California Fish and Wildlife Captain Patrick Foy later KTLA that the attack seemed to be unprovoked, saying:
“They had done nothing to provoke or inadvertently initiate some kind of attack by this coyote, but in fact, the coyote did go up and attack their little girl.”
Foy also praised the child’s family for their quick thinking after the incident as their response to the girl most likely scared the coyote away and saved her life:
“It was enough to terrorize that poor little girl and, thankfully, the family was there because it would not have ended well and the nature of the injuries were enough to get the little girl to the hospital.”
As for the coyote, officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department said they killed two later that night:
“At this time, we believe both coyotes observed on the beach last night have been captured.”
The California Fish and Wildlife said in a statement that forensic scientists in Sacramento will try and figure out if one of the prairie wolves was involved in the attack by attempting “to compare the samples of DNA from either of the carcasses to that of the samples taken from the victim’s bite wounds.” Both will also be tested for rabies.
We are glad that it sounds like the toddler will make a full recovery! This definitely could have ended a lot worse…
[Image via Fox 11 Los Angeles/YouTube]
