California man speaks out after being attacked by coyotes while running an ultramarathon.
Dean Karnazes, a Marin County trail runner of 150 miles, was attacked by a coyote. He was able to finish the run after the attack but his face was bloodied.
“I heard some footsteps coming up behind me, and I thought, ‘Oh there’s a dog maybe coming up behind me.’ And I swung around to look, and a coyote hit me from behind. It happened really quickly and left me in a state of shock, I think,”Inside Edition – Karnazes
He said that he was able to fight off the coyote by using poles that he runs with to provide stability during ultramarathons. These can take as much as 30 hours.
“I hit it on the side, because I was carrying my poles like this, so it was pretty convenient to just whack it,”Karnazes claimed.
Experts claim that attacks by coyotes in urban areas are increasing due to too many people feeding wild animals. Coyotes have lost their fear of humans as a result.
“When we start feeding animals, they become habituated and it creates problems. Once animals become reliant and dependent on human beings as a food source, especially previously wild animals, they begin to push those boundaries to get more and more food and get closer and closer,”Forrest Galante is a wildlife biologist.
Karnazes believes that the coyote attacked Karnazes for wanting the granola bar he was enjoying.