HOLBROOK, MASS. (WHDH) - A Holbrook mother is sounding the alarm after she and her two daughters said they were trapped by a large coyote while strolling on a walking trail Thursday morning.
The family was only a little ways away from the opening of the trail when they came face-to-face with the coyote who was standing about 15 feet away from them.
“The kids were on either side of me so grabbed them both like we need to back up right now. And I’m trying not to freak out… but obviously, and that plus it staying there for half an hour, you don’t know if it was sick, you don’t know if it was a mom being protective over a den,” said Catherine Nieves.
Nieves said she soon realized there was no other way out of the town forest except for the area blocked by the wild animal.
“We couldn’t leave, we couldn’t proceed into the trail so, I actually ended up calling DPW for Holbrook,” she said.
Abington animal control and Holbrook police used a drone to find them and guide them to safety.
“The officer that got to us had to walk through like, three feet of standing water and stuff,” Nieves said.
She and her daughters were not hurt. With the weather warming up she is warning anyone who hits the trails to be alert.
“That’s my main thought that I won’t be unprepared again,” she said. “And anyone that goes out hiking, even if it’s just for a short little bit, you should still be prepared for possibilities.”
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)