Coyote Shot In Westchester Tested Positive For Rabies

HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, NY — The coyote shot Thursday evening by a Westchester County public safety officer, after it lunged at him on the Dunwoodie Golf Course in Yonkers, tested positive for rabies. “If you see a coyote, don’t approach it,” said Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, MD. “If it appears aggressive or lethargic, it could have rabies, so contact local police.”

A spokeswoman for the county said a second coyote was present at the time of the attack, but was not captured.

Police had been searching on foot and via helicopter for an aggressive coyote following six other coyote attacks in Hastings and Yonkers Wednesday and Thursday.

Although the health department cannot be certain that the same coyote was involved in every incident, based on when and where the attacks occurred, it is likely this was the attacking coyote, officials said. There have been no reported coyote attacks in the area since this one was shot.

Coyote attacks are relatively rare in Westchester.

Everyone who reported their exposure to a coyote over the past several days has begun receiving preventive rabies treatment. If left untreated, rabies is fatal, experts said.

The attacks started Wednesday, when a coyote bit a woman and killed her dog — a Yorkie — in Hastings. A short while later a man and another woman were attacked.

The next morning, a third woman was attacked.

A mail carrier was bitten while making her rounds in the Homefield section of Yonkers, and a woman fended off a coyote wth her bicycle on the South County Trailway near Tuckahoe Road. Just after 3 p.m., a man was bitten while on the trailway, north of Yonker Avenue in Yonkers.

Experts said unusual behavior may be the first sign of rabies in an animal. A rabid animal may become either abnormally aggressive or unusually tame. It may lose fear of people and become excited or irritable or appear particularly passive and lethargic.

Staggering and frothing at the mouth are sometimes seen.

Any physical contact with a wild or unfamiliar animal should be reported to a health-car provider. All animal bites or contacts with animals suspected of having rabies must be reported to the Westchester County Department of Health at 914-813-5000 24 hours a day.

New York State law requires dogs, cats and ferrets to be vaccinated against rabies and receive regular booster shots.

PHOTO: Eastern coyote/ NYSDEC.