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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A coyote that was strangled by a man after attacking his child had rabies, and it may not be the only one, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Police said they believe the coyote attacked a vehicle on a road in Hampton Falls, bit a 62-year-old woman and her dogs on a porch in Kensington and then attacked a family walking on a trail in Exeter on Monday.
“Based on all the evidence we have collected and in talking with several people who recently reported seeing coyotes acting erratically, we don't believe this is the only coyote in the Exeter area that may have rabies," Col. Kevin Jordan, chief of the Fish and Game Department's law enforcement division, said late Tuesday.
Law enforcement officials were searching for the coyote when they got word that it had been killed. Ian O'Reilly told WMUR-TV that he was bitten on his chest and forearm but managed to get on top of the animal and cut off its air supply.
The victims were treated for rabies as a precaution. Rabies can be treated if caught early.
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