I found this article at new york times; Usually animals attacks are rare, especially coyote attacks. A young singer and writer named Taylor Mitchell, age 19 from Toronto. She was touring her new album on the East Coast. She was a promising young musician with an amazing talent. She was such a wonderful artist she enjoyed writing her own songs and she was really good. She was extremely excited about traveling and being able to sing and play for people. But it all went terribly wrong for her, she was going for a hike to get some fresh air and to get her mind off of things and to get some exercise. When out of no-where she got brutally attacked, it was at Cape Breton highlands National Park in Nova Scotia. Tuesday when the attack occurred, she was soon airlifted to a Halifax hospital in critical condition and died Wednesday morning. Bancroft, a retired biologist with Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources, said it’s possible that the coyotes thought that Mitchell was a deer or other prey. He also said “It’s very unusual and is not likely to be repeated,” Bancroft said.

My first reaction to this article was that it was very shocking to hear of about a coyote attack. Everyone knows that coyotes don’t get along with humans in the first place, but they don’t dare come towards us. I think maybe that the only reason why the dogs decided to approach Taylor was because she was all alone, and the coyotes see that as a weakness. The dogs are very territorial, she may have got to close to a den or home of theirs, they may have had a few cubs and they felt threatened by her. I do not see these animals just attacking for no particular reason other than they were scared. The poor girl was in the wrong place at the wrong moment and she was alone.

I believe I reacted the way I did because Taylor did nothing wrong in order for her to deserve what happened. There would have been nothing anyone could of done to help her even if there was someone there. Coyotes can be very mean, but they can also get scared easily. Also when animals get approached unknowingly they get very mad and territorial, she could have just been two feet too close to their boundries and they lost control. This is a tragedy that no one would expect to happen, it’s a very scary thing to happen especially to such a young and talented girl. After reading the story all the way through, it seemed as though some of the writers were trying to stand up for the animals and their own defense. I do agree to some extent, for example if a deer has lived in the same woods its intire life, and gets shot at 10 or so times it’s not going to think that humans are good natured.

In conclusion, it is a tragedy to hear about this loss, and I feel pain for the loved ones of this young girl. I hope everyone from now on at least tries to have a weapon, and knows not to be alone.