Rural North Dakota Residents On Edge After Recent Coyote Attacks

YIKES!  We have heard of not one, but two incidents of coyotes attacking pets in rural North Dakota in the last week.

The first happened about 40 miles northeast of Bismarck right outside the home of Casey Quale.  Quale who farms the land around his home, told me about a rather disturbing coyote encounter that his family on edge.

This all happened at about 2 pm on Wednesday, April 10th.  Quale was working on a piece of equipment in his yard when his family Corgi/Shitzu named "Ruger" started barking loudly.  Here's a picture of the Quale family pet.

Casey investigated the situation to find a coyote going after his dog.  Quale yelled at the animal, and the coyote turned his attention to him and charged at him.  Quale was able to fend the animal off with his boot and finished him off with a pipe wrench.  It was a scary encounter that shook him to the core.

Quale who has lived and farmed in this area his entire life told me he has never had a coyote act this aggressively.  "Normally, they just run away when seeing a human."

Another coyote encounter involving a rural pet also happened recently south of Tuttle, North Dakota.

Thankfully, it appears both dogs are going to be alright.  Quale told me he plans to have the coyote he killed tested for rabies at the vet clinic.  He also wishes more was done to control these animals.

Should you be concerned about a coyote attack if you live in a rural area?

As somebody who also lives in a development south of Lincoln, this really gets me thinking.  I too have witnessed coyotes in my backyard before.  I guess I have never worried a whole lot about an attack on my lab pups from a coyote.  I plan to keep an eye out for Yote's going forward.  You might also want to if you have a pet in a rural area.