Middletown authorities reported a second recent attack on a child by a coyote last night, according to stories in today’s Star-Ledger and Asbury Park Press.
According to the Ledger, the police fired one shot at an animal spotted nearby shortly afterward, but don’t know if it was hit.
The Press says the five-year-old child was attacked on Hopi Court while walking in the street with a sibling at about 8:30p. The Ledger says the attack occurred outside the boy’s Pomo Court home, and that the animal was scared off by the screams of the boy’s 8-year-old sister.
The unidentified victim was taken to Riverview Medical Center for treatment of bites and scratches on his face and head, and will be given preventive rabies shots, according to the Ledger.
On April 6, a 22-month-old boy who lived just one-eighth of a mile away from Monday’s attack was grabbed in his family’s yard by a coyote that attempted to drag him off into nearby woods. The animal, which was believed to be accompanied by one or two other coyotes, was also scared off by an onlooker’s screams.
Both victims live near Earle Naval Weapons Station, off Kings Highway East, in the Chapel Hill section of town.
From the Ledger:
Middletown police made numerous reverse 911 calls to the area, which is bound by fields and woods, warning residents to be cautious.
State wildlife officials are expected to arrive this morning with tracking dogs to further scour the area, the lieutenant said.
Residents have reported numerous coyote sightings within recent weeks, Hansen added. Several pets in the area have been killed recently.
The April incident was believed to be the first reported coyote attack on a child in New Jersey history, wildlife authorities said at the time.
