Coyote attacks Burlington resident on patio

A woman was bitten by a coyote while relaxing on her patio yesterday morning (Sept. 10), marking the sixth coyote attack to occur in Burlington in the past three weeks.

At approximately 8:20 a.m., a resident of a retirement home on New St. in the Roseland area was sitting on their front patio in a chair. She was relaxing when she awoke to the pain of a coyote biting her in the hip area.

The coyote was initially started when the resident awoke but then tried to approach her again. She was able to scare it away before a retirement home employee ran to her aide.

The coyote reportedly ran across New St. and into a neighbourhood. An ambulance took the woman to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The City of Burlington has activated its Crisis Management Team due to the increasing number of coyote attacks on residents.

There has been a total of six attacks now, with the last one occurring on Aug. 24 when a woman was walking in Central Park around 6:30 a.m. and bit from behind. She was treated at Joseph Brant Hospital for coyote scratches and released.

Map of Burlington depicting the locations of the coyote attacks.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward spoke with the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Graydon Smith, in an effort to help address the serious risk to the community from these unprecedented and unprovoked coyote attacks.

City staff are in active discussions with coyote wildlife management experts at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to collaborate on solutions.

“I join all of my colleagues on council in expressing our heartfelt distress to the resident attacked this morning,” Mayor Ward said. “We want to assure residents we’re taking immediate actions to protect our community, including convening a crisis team and a special council meeting this week to implement our action plan.”

City of Burlington Animal Services staff are patrolling the area to locate this coyote and its den. They have found several neglected properties in the area that could be offering ideal denning areas for this pack of aggressive coyotes.

Bylaw Officers are being dispatched and prioritizing by bringing these properties to meet bylaw requirements and to remove the opportunity for coyotes to den on these sites. Animal Services staff are also working with a Certified Wildlife Control Professional to eliminate the coyote.

City of Burlington staff will present a report to council on coyote management recommendations at the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 9:30 a.m. for approval at the City of Burlington Special Council Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at noon.

For more information on how to protect yourself and your family from coyote attacks, visit the City of Burlington’s website here.