Man strangles coyote after it attacks his child

‘One hand on its windpipe and one hand on its snout did the trick’

A father saved his two-year-old son’s life by killing a wild coyote with his bare hands after the animal attacked the child in Kensington, New Hampshire, US.

The coyote leapt from woods where Ian O’Reilly was walking with his wife and three children, and knocked the youngest child to the ground, grabbing the two-year-old by his jacket’s hood.

Mr O’Reilly immediately “went into protection mode”, kicking the coyote before ultimately wrestling it to the ground and suffocating it to death, said New Hampshire Police Chief Scott Cain.

In an interview with local news outlet Boston 25 News, Mr O’Reilly said he was “running on instinct and adrenaline” during the struggle he says lasted 10 minutes.

“There was no interest in it going away so ultimately I had to make the decision to become the aggressor and jumped on it, attacked it and was able to get it to the ground,” O’Reilly said.

“When I was able to get on top of it I put my hand around its snout so it wasn’t able to attack me anymore.”

“Ultimately one hand on its windpipe and one hand on its snout did the trick.”

“It was very much in attack mode”, he said.

In a separate interview with CNN, Mr O’Reilly said he had “never harmed an animal so it was a weird experience.”

During the fight, the coyote bit Mr O’Reilly twice as he attempted to fend it off, leaving two considerable scratches.

His son was unharmed, reportedly due in part to his thick snowsuit.

It is possible the same coyote was behind two other attacks in the area the same morning, police said.

At around 9am, a coyote attacked a moving car at Hampton Falls, and then 20 minutes later another coyote reportedly attacked 62 year-old Pat Lee, biting her as she sat in her front porch with three dogs. The dogs were also attacked.

Ms Lee said she had to stop the coyote from entering her house.

New Hampshire Fish and Game recovered the body of the coyote after Mr O’Reilly alerted them to the attack.

The carcass is now being tested for rabies and DNA samples are being taken to check whether it was the same animal which attacked Ms Lee.

Mr O’Reilly and Ms Lee have both been given rabies jabs as a precaution.

By coincidence, on the same day in California, another father has been credited with saving the life of his three-year-old son, who was attacked by a mountain lion while the family of six were walking in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park.

The child suffered neck injuries, but was released by the animal when the father threw a rucksack at it.

The child is said to be in a stable condition.