Residents in Oakville are being warned to watch for coyotes after an eight-year-old girl was bitten by one while playing in her friend's backyard.
The girl was not seriously injured when she was bitten Thursday afternoon on a pathway behind Cannonridge Circle in Oakville, but she was given a fright when the animal started to chase her.
After a hunt by police, animal control workers and Ministry of Natural Resources officers, a coyote was located on the same pathway and shot dead.
Police believe that the coyote that was shot was the one responsible for biting the girl.
"My friend was making a snow fort and I was lying on the ground and then a coyote jumped the fence and bit my leg," Julia Couto told CP24 Friday morning. "It felt like a really, really, really hard slap and me and my friend just ran up the stairs and went into her house."
Couto was wearing snow pants at the time of the attack and as a result the coyote did not break her skin. She will, however, receive a rabies shot as a precaution.
"It was a frightening phone call to receive, but luckily she was wearing snow pants and there is no visible tear and just a few bite marks," the girl's mother told CP24.
Police are urging people to be vigilant when walking near forested areas.
"By no means was the one yesterday the only coyote in the Town of Oakville, so we are asking people to call us if they spot one," Sgt. Dave Cross of Halton Regional Police told CP24. "Do not approach the animal, but keep an eye on it from a distance if possible."
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