Coyote bites teenager in Massachusetts

By Web Staff

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    CHATHAM, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A teenager was bitten by a coyote this week while eating at a Chatham beach. It happened Monday at Harding’s Beach around 8 p.m.

Sixteen-year-old Jacob Packard was sitting on a blanket eating with a friend when the coyote approached and bit him on the right ankle.

“It just bit my right foot, and that’s what alerted me to it being there,” said Packard. “I don’t think it was biting me with the intent to hurt because it was a very fast and light, I don’t want to say nibble, but it was a quick little bite. And then when I jumped up, it quickly retreated away.”

While the two teenagers ran away, the coyote picked up some food and went into the dunes.

Packard’s experience follows a series of coyote attacks this summer on the Cape, including one involving a little girl in Provincetown.

Officials in Chatham are asking people not to feed the animals and are now placing warning signs in the area.

“This has definitely been an eye-opener for me,” Packard said. “I’m definitely going to be more careful where I choose to lay leisurely about with food.”

As a precaution, Packard is being treated for rabies. Several residents in Chatham have been reporting their own encounters with coyotes to police.

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