Article: Rabid coyote shot, killed in Pa.

[Skinny Shooter]

http://www.readingeagle.com/re/news/1574972.asp

A rabid Eastern coyote was shot and killed by a Sinking Spring area man after it attacked his two dogs and tried to get into his house, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The coyote was killed last Thursday, and the results of the rabies test were released Wednesday. It was the first confirmed case of a rabid coyote in the state.

The commission warned people to be on the lookout for any animals showing unusual behavior.

The name of the man who shot the coyote and the address where the attack occurred were unavailable.

Commission officials could not be reached for further information Wednesday night.

However, they said in a press release that the man was not injured and his dogs were not seriously hurt.

One of the dogs was bitten, but the animals already were vaccinated for rabies and were taken for booster shots, according to the release.

“This is the first confirmed case of rabies in this species in Pennsylvania,” Dr. Walter Cottrell, a state wildlife veterinarian, was quoted as saying in the release. “We always knew that coyotes were susceptible to rabies, but such a case had never been confirmed here.

“The game commission is awaiting the results of tests to determine which strain of the rabies virus was affecting the coyote.”

Police in the Sinking Spring area said they had no report of the attack.

Coyotes are found across the state, including urban areas, according to the commission.

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...?Q=169970&A=11

2006 Press Releases
Release #124-06

RABIES CONFIRMED IN COYOTE KILLED IN BERKS COUNTY

HARRISBURG - Dr. Walter Cottrell, Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife veterinarian today announced the state Department of Agriculture's laboratory has confirmed that an eastern coyote killed in Sinking Spring, Berks County, was rabid. The sample was submitted by a private citizen, who killed the animal on Sept. 21, after it displayed aggressive behavior.

According to the individual, his dogs were attacked by the coyote, and it attempted to come through a door after attacking the dogs. One dog was bitten; both were previously vaccinated, and subsequently received booster shots.

"This is the first confirmed case of rabies in this species in Pennsylvania," said Dr. Cottrell. "We always knew that coyotes were susceptible to rabies, but such a case had never been confirmed before. The Game Commission is awaiting the results of tests to determine which strain of the rabies virus was affecting the coyote.

"With many Pennsylvanians, including hunters, trappers and hikers, preparing to enjoy outdoor activities in Penn's Woods, we wanted to remind them to be cautious if they encounter wildlife acting in an unusual manner."

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat. The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs.

The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget. The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.

Yet another reason to carry while afield.

Rocky that's close to where we went skinny hunting.

[Skinny Shooter]

http://www.readingeagle.com/re/news/1575531.asp

Couple tell of battle against coyote
“It was scary,” says a Lower Heidelberg Township man who eventually shot and killed the rabid animal.

By Jason A. Kahl
Reading Eagle

A rabid coyote terrorized a Lower Heidelberg Township couple attacking one of their dogs and trying to break into their house before homeowner Craig S. Luckenbill killed it with a shotgun.
Luckenbill said his wife, Jenny, played a key role in the battle, trapping the coyote by slamming the front door on its neck as it snarled and tried to force its way into the house on Brownsville Road near Blue Marsh Lake.

The couple's two Labrador retrievers, Annie and Cali, both fought with the coyote, trying to protect the Luckenbills.

“It was scary,” Craig Luckenbill said Thursday about the Sept. 21 encounter.

The 40-pound male coyote was the first ever to test positive for rabies in Pennsylvania, according to the state Game Commission.

Luckenbill, 43, said it was a typical morning: It was about 7:30, he had just let the dogs out and was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.

“One of the dogs (Annie) came back into the house when I heard the other dog barking like crazy and I knew something was wrong,” Luckenbill said. “I went outside and looked at the shrubs near the patio and saw it was a coyote and they were fighting.”

Luckenbill tried to pull his dog away from the coyote, but the coyote kept coming after him and the dog.

“When the coyote tried to come at me, twice the dog got between me and the coyote to protect me and they got at it again,” Luckenbill said. “My wife was standing in the doorway screaming and I called the dog and we got back into the house.”

The coyote was close behind and was stopped at the front door by Luckenbill's wife, who struggled to keep the door closed on the coyote's neck.

“When it tried to come into the house, my other dog Annie got involved to protect my wife,” Luckenbill said.

As Luckenbill got his 12-gauge shotgun, his wife managed to close the door. The coyote didn't give up, biting at the door and glass and causing damage to the front of the house.

The coyote was in the front yard when Luckenbill went out and killed it with one shotgun blast.

“I'm a hunter but I've never seen anything like that,” he said.

Both dogs, which already had been immunized for rabies, received booster shots after the attack.

The Luckenbills knew there were coyotes in the neighborhood. They had seen and heard them in the fields, but never saw one so close to their house.

“It makes you more cautious,” Luckenbill said. “It put fear into us. If there was one here, there could be another rabid one.”

Luckenbill said the dogs are not going outside unattended anymore.

Katherine Warner, a secretary for the Army Corps of Engineers, which manages nearby Blue Marsh Lake, said she has seen coyotes for at least 10 years in that area but knew of no attacks.

“We haven't had a problem, but there's been coyotes here for years,” Warner said.

Sounds like quite a tussle.
Fortunately they are ok.
Imagine if their dogs hadn't been there. He and maybe she would be getting rabies shots.

[fabsroman]

Skinny, that is one reason to always have a gun in the house and one on your person when in the field. I have raccoons and foxes around me all the time right by my townhouse, and it is really scary because they are barely even frightened of humans. I had a raccoon stare me down one night when I went to get our mail. If I wouldn't get arrested for killing them, you bet I would have already. The condo owners put trash in their trash area and they do not secure the lid. So, the raccoons have easy food.

I wouldn't be too happy to find a coyote around here, but I know they are all around me right now. Just haven't run into one yet.