TEMPLE, Texas — Seeing a four-legged furry animal at a local park usually isn’t a big deal to most, but a coyote can be a different story.
“I know there’s a lot of development and there’s a lot of different animals, but for it to come after us was kind of unexpected,” said Angela Kelley, nanny in Temple, Texas.
Kelley said she and her toddler were out at Western Hills Park in Temple playing on Tuesday morning, when Kelley noticed a coyote walking out the wooded area.
“He went to the wooded area and I was holding my toddler and he kept stalking us. I had a feeling that he was gonna come after us,” Kelley said.
Suddenly the coyote started to run towards them — that’s when Kelley and the toddler started running in the other direction.
“Luckily our car was literally right there, otherwise I don’t think we would have outran a coyote.”
Kelly called Temple Animal Services — city officials say when they arrived, that the animal was gone and out of sight.
They say they usually get 20 calls of animal sightings per year in local parks and neighborhoods.
“We are now out of the breeding season, and a lot of the mothers are out looking for food for their babies. So you may see a coyote walking around,” said Temple Public Relations Specialist, Allison O’Connor.
City officials said that if you see a coyote, wave your hands and make noise.
“They do not want to interact with people about 99% of the time. If you just give them a jump scare, they are gonna run.”
Officials say do not turn and run, do not approach the animal, and do not feed them.
