The coyote story narrative is changing

The story carried by the New York Times differs in important details from the first reports in a local newspaper account, which I linked to in the previous post. I am quoting below the entire article that I provided a link to, in the previous article. Because, when a story changes, the original details, accurate or not, (which I cannot judge) have a tendency to get lost. So here is the first story I read about it, the number of animals, the talk of rabies, the number of incidents, all this differs, so compare the below to the New York TImes account, which is at this link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/nyregion/03coyotes.html
Again the story below is linked to in my previous coyote post.

Rye coyote attack — pair of animals maul 6-year-old girl

Timothy O'Connor
tpoconnor@lohud.com

RYE — Two coyotes attacked a 6-year-old girl as she played in her front yard Friday night, police said.

The coyotes singled out the girl for the attack — likely because of her small size — as she and other girls played in the yard with the victim's mother close by, police said.

The coyotes ran at her, tackled her to the ground and began biting her. The girl suffered bite wounds to her shoulder and right thigh and scratches to her her head, neck, and back. She also might have been bitten on her ear, Rye Police Commissioner William Connors said.

She was treated at Greenwich Hospital and released Friday night.

"Her injuries are not life-threatening but she sustained a number of significant bite wounds and lacerations," Connors said.

Other girls alerted the victim's mother to the attack and she scared off the animals, he said. None of the other girls were attacked, he said.

"It seems that she was probably the smallest of the group and the attack seemed to focus solely on her," Connors said.

Police did not release the name or address of the victim because of her age, Connors said.

Shortly after the attack, a police officer spotted a coyote near the Rye Golf Course just a couple of blocks away. He fired a shot at the animal but did not strike it, Connors said. Afterwards, police scoured the golf course. A Westchester County police helicopter was brought in to use infrared heat detection and shine light down on the course. Firefighters accompanied police in golf carts with thermal imaging equipment.

But no coyotes were found.

Police are operating under the assumption that the coyotes are rabid because attacks on humans are so rare, Connors said. He did not know if the girl was treated for possible rabies exposure.

Coyotes are usually afraid of people and will flee when humans make loud noises or throw objects at them, Connors said.

"In light of this incident, however, we urge residents to pay particular attention to small children and to supervise them closely when they are outdoors," he said.

The attack was the second coyote incident in the city in the last three months. A miniature poodle was killed March 31 by a coyote at the Osborn retirement community. Police increased trapping efforts after that incident and caught a female coyote and eight pups which were relocated, Connors said.

Connors said police will continue working with a nuisance wildlife removal company to catch the coyotes.

But, he said, Friday's attack "changes the equation."

"We will continue our trapping efforts," he said, "and also take an increasingly aggressive approach to dealing with the animals when that can be done safely."

Neighbors in the Glen Oaks section were tense Saturday, with one woman who lives on the corner of Glen Oaks Drive and Lasalle Avenue waving off a reporter, saying she did not want to discuss an incident involving a 6-year-old girl.

Another man, Stan Carbone, 44, who lives on Bradford Avenue, said he had bought an air horn to scare off any coyotes he might meet while walking his 19-month old Border collie mix, Kera, whose small size makes her a perfect target for coyotes. Carbone works as a supervisor at Community Veterinary Hospital where a dachsund was brought in after being attacked by a coyote earlier this year. He said he saw one on nearby Boston Post Road recently that was "the size of a German Shepherd."

"I'm totally paranoid," he said.