BELLEVUE, Wash. (KIRO) – A Washington state father says his 4-year-old daughter was bitten by a coyote just inches away from their front door.
Chang Tong says a coyote was walking on his family’s door mat Tuesday in the Factoria neighborhood of Bellevue. The father was standing just inside the front door when his 4-year-old daughter, Lena, pushed the door open and took a step outside.
Both father and daughter thought the animal was a dog due to its size and gray and white coloring. Lena reached out to pet it.
“She was about to pet the dog at that time, and with just one second, the coyote just bit her hand and tried to drag her,” Tong said. “She was dragged to the ground.”
Knowing he had just seconds to react, Tong yelled at the coyote to scare it away. It worked. He then took his daughter to the emergency room for minor injuries on her palm. She also received a rabies shot.
Now, Tong says he’ll keep his gate closed and talk to his young children about coyotes.
“We may have some weapons, like a stake or a knife, somewhere handy,” he said. “If a neighbor saw it, it’s better for them to recognize it’s a coyote. It’s not a dog.”
The incident is the fifth close call in Bellevue in the last week. Earlier that same day, a coyote went up to a group of kids waiting at a bus stop in Factoria and tried to bite them, ripping some of their clothes.
A week earlier, two adults were bitten in separate incidents. A man was bitten by a coyote on his leg in his open garage in Factoria. A woman was bitten on her leg while sitting on her patio in Norwood Village.
“We had them [coyotes] come right in front of people’s front porch, where they got attacked inside garages. That’s how bold they’ve gotten,” said Sgt. Carlo Pace with Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Wildlife officials have killed one coyote they believe is involved. They are still searching for another.
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