Coyote suspected of nipping two boys killed

updated 12:50 a.m. ET April 29, 2006

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A coyote suspected of nipping two young boys was shot and killed Friday in this Seattle suburb by a state wildlife officer.

Sgt. Kim Chandler shot the 24-pound coyote with his service revolver at the edge of a wooded ravine.

Chandler said he went out to the location where a man had said he was charged by a coyote. The animal approached Chandler who fired several shots at the young male.

The coyote’s head was too damaged to allow rabies testing, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said. The carcass was taken to a local veterinarian for a necropsy exam.

“This animal was definitely a problem coyote, although we can’t say for sure it was the same coyote that recently attacked the children,” said Capt. Bill Hebner, who supervises the agency’s enforcement activities in the North Puget Sound region.

Two boys — an 18-month-old and a 4-year-old — were bitten in Bellevue’s Eastgate neighborhood on Tuesday, according to Fish and Wildlife.

Both children, and a woman bitten in March, are undergoing rabies shots, officials said.

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