A coyote bit a 5-year-old girl in Dublin Hills Regional Park on Wednesday, park district police said.
The girl is in stable condition at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland following the attack, the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department said.
Officers and California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are in the area following the attack, and the park is closed, police said.
40 comments
I thought all East Bay Regional District parks were closed?? Maybe they were open to just pedestrians?
They are not all closed. Their website has a list of closures.
May be why the coyotes were out and around where they normally wouldn’t be. Where were the parents during all of this? Seems like the coyote got a raw deal … if it was even the one that bit her.
Sounds like a case of
The child got too far away from the parents so they didn’t see the coyote stalking my daughter. Coyote went for it because why not it’s small.
Darn coyotes. Hope the girl is okay. Maybe people should stay home. If only someone could order a quarantine….oh wait.
Coyotes have young pups this time of year. They will protect their young.
STAY HOME!!!!. these 2 weeks/2 months are not VACATION time.
No. That is NOT what the so called order states.
We are Not going to stay home. The purpose is to avoid crowds, not stay imprisoned on house arrest.
Going for a family walk away from other people is not against the spirit or the letter of the order. And there is zero indication this was anybody’s fault. Some people just need someone to blame for every incident!
It is what the order says:
“2. All individuals currently living within Contra Costa County (the “County”) are ordered to shelter at their place of residence. To the extent individuals are using shared or outdoor spaces, they must at all times as reasonably possible maintain social distancing of at least six feet from any other person when they are outside their residence. All persons may leave their residences only for Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, or to operate Essential Businesses, all as defined in Section 10. Individuals experiencing homelessness are exempt from this Section, but are strongly urged to obtain shelter, and governmental and other entities are strongly urged to make such shelter available as soon as possible and to the maximum extent practicable (and to utilize Social Distancing Requirements in their operation).”
shared outdoor spaces means outdoor spaces of your residence. (common areas of multi family residences, sidewalks…etc)
Very simple…stay home…if you go outside your home and it is a shared space, social distance…
Why is this so hard for everyone?
Nope, you’re wrong, @stay. See the comment further down for the relevant section.
@ Led
No, you misunderstand. Both CCC and AC orders say stay home. The exception is only for vital services. Yes, you can take a walk, hike, jog run. But it is to be in the vicinity of your home as you are not to drive to do these activities. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Go ahead and get caught up in the exact wording of this order or that order to justify irresponsible behavior if wanted. However, I suggest that people use their better judgement for the health and safety of themselves and others.
This is not to say that this particular family did anything wrong in this case as they may have walked to the trail out their back door as I can. And this could have happened (and does) regardless of the current situation so I am not casting blame to this family.
It is to say that people are to stay home (walking, jogging, running, hiking around your home is fine) however, when in common areas near your home use social distancing. The number of people posting on social media with their road trips out of town for hikes and runs, bike rides, etc. goes against the orders. People stay home.
It is irresponsible to continue to perpetuate the idea that the orders mean something different then ‘stay home’. Stop arguing semantics and abide by the spirit of these orders.
@Stay, I guess the actual rules only matter when you think they are on your side, and when you’re shown to be wrong then it’s just semantics. Ok. Let’s talk about social distancing: Sidewalks are often more crowded than open spaces with fire road-sized trails. So it’s often safer and more effective for distancing to drive to a wide-open area rather than to walk in your neighborhood. And Dublin Hills is an open space near a lot of people, isn’t it? Whether they walked from their home or took a drive from elsewhere in the area doesn’t really matter, as long as they weren’t driving to a crowded parking lot or trailhead. That’s why some of the parks have walk-in access only right now, but not all of them. “Stay at home” is the broad description but there are details for a reason.
I also agree that a long trip out of town to go hiking is against the spirit of the order, because that means having to stop for bathroom and gas, etc. But this is a local open space in a high population area. Nothing wrong with hopping in the car to get there: by the letter or the spirit of the order.
@ Led, yes, thank you for accepting the truth.
@Led – Thank you. Some people really do like the drama, and can’t think for themselves. They listen to politicians and the media as if they were God’s.
Unless this virus somehow completely disappears from society, are we going to live like this forever? What happens in the future when there is a worse virus?
People, there is no doubt there is a virus, but what you’re getting on main stream media is a lot of BS. There is a lot more going on, and we are getting a lot of distraction “ news”.
Obviously they were not practicing social distancing.
“they”, being the coyote pack?????
108RS
It’s a great time to go out for a hike, just keep your distance from other hikers.
When you leave pavement you enter the wilderness, out local wilderness includes mountain lions, bobcats, rattlesnakes and coyotes. Your chance of injury is very small. Small children should not get ahead of adults.
Of course I’m always armed.
108RS
@Anon, you are sadly mistaken again.
Californian’s are asked to stay at home except for ESSENTIAL NEEDS.
“Everyone in California is required to stay home except to get food, care for a relative or friend, get necessary health care, or go to an essential job. If you go out, keep at least 6 feet of distance,” officials outlined.
California says this is what is open and considered essential while the stay-at-home order is in place:
Gas stations
Pharmacies
Food: grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, takeout and delivery restaurants
Banks
Laundromats/laundry services
Nope. Sunlight & Exercise are essential, I cannot help those who lack common sense……they lacked it Long before this situation when they would get in your personal space at a checkstand.
Don’t try to be a hero….live and let live.
@Mike Wagner you are mistaken. Please don’t rely on press conferences or news articles for this kind of information, they always leave out details and make things vague.
Here is the official document for the shelter in place, this is the only place you should get your information on the shelter-in-place rules. This document is for Alameda county, but the rules are the same for all Bay Area counties.
http://acphd.org/media/559658/health-officer-order-shelter-in-place-20200316.pdf
[Quote:]
5. All travel, including, but not limited to, travel on foot, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, automobile, or public transit, except Essential Travel and Essential Activities as defined below in Section 10, is prohibited. People must use public transit only for purposes of performing Essential Activities or to travel to and from work to operate Essential Businesses or maintain Essential Governmental Functions.
Further on, “essential activities” are defined:
[Quote:]
10. Definitions and Exemptions.
a. For purposes of this Order, individuals may leave their residence only to perform any of the following “Essential Activities.” But people at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and people who are sick are urged to stay in their residence to the extent possible except as necessary to seek medical care.
[…other exceptions omitted…]
iii. To engage in outdoor activity, provided the individuals comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Section, such as, by way of example and without limitation, walking, hiking, or running.
Woof-bang-yelp! Problem solved.
shelter in place is now house arrest?? Nobody is going to tell ME what to do, chest thump chest thump.
Rabies shots?
Well when humans encroach on animals territory, building houses and other stuff, animals are backed into living with people. The animals were here first. Nature always bats last
Yes, and grizzlies once roamed the lowlands of California. I move that we start a grizzly reintroduction program in American Citizens backyard. Are we ready to proceed to a vote? It passes. Make sure to welcome your grizzly – after all, nature bats last.
Animals make way better neighbors than people do.
If you really believed that I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t live in a metropolitan area in the most populous state in the US.
Self isolation or house arrest does not matter what you call it. It’s for the good of the community. As for the little girl I hope she is okay. It sounds like bad parenting hopefully the parents have learned a valuable lesson.
Good Lord, is there no end to the need to blame the victim of every mishap? We have no idea whether the parents were to blame! Sometimes unusual things happen, and normal precautions aren’t enough. That doesn’t make it anybody’s fault. For all you know the kid was within a few feet of the parent. Would it just shatter your world to learn that something bad happened to someone and it wasn’t anybody’s fault?
@Led, good grief, what is your problem? Why can’t you understand that IT IS someone’s fault? Don’t be such a dope and wake up. That 5 year old didn’t end up at the park by herself. Go outdoors if you have to but stay out of parks.
Cyn, that makes zero sense. Are coyotes more likely to be in parks than on trails? No, you don’t know if it was someone’s fault. You don’t. You just want to believe it because your universe makes more sense that way. “As long as I don’t do dumb things like THOSE people everything will be ok.” And since that bad thing happened to them, they must have been at fault. Nope. Coulda been their fault, but none of these combox judge-maestros has any evidence that that’s the case. Not every accident has a guilty party attached to blame. It’s just projecting your own psychological desires onto the situation to feel more in control.
Nobody is blaming the victim in the situation, the little girl. They are blaming her parents, the adults charged with providing for the protection of the little girl. How was it that they allowed a coyote to come so close to their child that it could bite her? Were they not paying attention to what the child was doing? Did they not perceive the coyote as a threat? Did the think the coyote was friendly by approaching them? Did the coyote charge the little girl from a distance before they could react? Had the little girl wandered ahead or behind the adults in the group? Seems like an improbable situation no matter what happened that was not the coyote’s fault.
Chicken Little, those are good questions, and none of us knows the answer to any of them. So we don’t know whether the parents were acting irresponsibly or negligently. That’s my point: we don’t know.
As to what is probable or improbable for a coyote to do: the whole situation is improbable. A coyote going for a five-year-old in broad daylight ain’t normal, period. So actually we have reason to think the coyote did act weirdly and atypically. Whereas we know nothing about how close the parents were, etc. I mean, how close do you judgers think parents need to be to their kids at every second of their lives, anyway? Nobody over thirty (much less over 50) was raised with an adult constantly hovering within arm’s reach. Yet when something unfortunate happens the army of comment box judges comes out to insist that those darn parents *must* have been negligent, and we don’t need any details to decide it. And for all we know the parents *were* within arm’s reach and the coyote was just crazy from rabies or whatever. But in that case it wouldn’t give us someone to blame, so we don’t like that possibility, do we? Not as satisfying, is it? It all comes back to the need to blame people – it makes the world more comforting if truly random mishaps can’t happen to responsible people. But they can happen to responsible people. It happens everyday.
Sorry, that was replying to Giddyup, not Chicken Little
I keep wondering why the parents didn’t notice or hear a pack of coyotes.
Why do you assume they didn’t? What should they have done if they did?
There’s not nearly enough information in this article for you (or anybody else) to come to any kind of an informed conclusion. Not that a lack of information ever stops anybody from asserting their “expertise”.
What should they have done? Remind me not to go hunting with you.
What should they have done if they saw a pack of coyotes nearby? Pick the kid up. I’ve seen it any number of times when a large dog roaming freely is threatening a small dog on a leash. The owner of the small dog tries to shoo the menacing dog away, but it keeps going for the smaller dog. Pick up the small dog. It has a better chance of thwarting and surviving any attack.
You turn around and go back. Having walked dogs and come across this they hold their ground protecting their den. Unless you run up to them calling doggie doggie.
Years ago when I was visiting the Happy Isle Nature Center in Yosemite, with my family from Denmark, all of sudden there was a coyote, he was fairly close, but did not seem to try to get closer. I remember I told a couple of people that had toddlers, perhaps you want to pick up your child. It was in September so not huge crowds, but there were about 15-20 people, if I remember correctly, we went into the center, and when we came out he was gone.
When I lived in Benicia I would walk in Benicia several time a week. Once walking on the trail I notice a coyote some distance out, but still fairly close, perhaps a couple of car length, he was walking towards the city of Benicia, I was walking the opposite way, but he kept turning his head and following me with his eyes, while he walked very slowly. A ranger came by and I stopped her and asked if I should be concerned, she said no not really, only if it has pups and you get between the mother and pups. Not must of a reassurance, since I had no idea if this particular coyote had pups, or where they might be.
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