PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WHDH) - A Rhode Island man had a close encounter with a coyote while walking through a park in Providence on Tuesday evening.
Daniel Torres caught the wild animal on video circling him and blocking his path at Merino Park around 6:30 p.m.
He picked up a stick and began swinging it in the coyote’s direction in hopes of scaring it away but the coyote did not back down and stalked Torres for about 20 minutes.
After the long standoff, the coyote ran into the woods.
“It’s dangerous for people walking, it’s dangerous for people,” Torres said. “It’s no good.”
While watching the video, R.I. Department of Environmental Management Wildlife Biologist Charlie Brown said his first thought was that the wild animal had rabies.
“I’ve never seen a coyote behave like that,” he said. “I think we’ve only ever had two cases that I’m aware of in rabies in coyotes in Rhode Island, since 1994.”
Brown added that Torres did the right thing by standing his ground and confronting the coyote rather than trying to run away.
Wildlife experts say this is the time of year when Rhode Island gets more calls about coyote interactions.
An environmental police officer has inspected the park where Torres encountered the wild animal and will continue to monitor the area for coyotes.
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