A coyote bit a child this weekend in Arlington, Massachusetts.
The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, police said Monday. A 5-year-old boy was playing in a sand box on Cutler Hill Road when the animal approached him and bit his leg.
Residents in the Cutter Hill Road neighborhood have countless videos of coyotes roaming around, grabbing stuff in their yards. They hear them howling all the time, as well.
"There's a den a couple houses away from our house," said neighborhood resident Hedrick Ellis.
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Stephanie Collins just saw coyotes Monday morning.
"Next thing I know I look to the side and I see two coyotes just running up my neighbor's driveway," said Collins. "Like probably 10 feet away from us."
Neighbors are not totally surprised about what happened Sunday evening.
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"Yesterday afternoon, I heard someone just out the window say, 'I got bit by a coyote,' and I wasn't really sure what to think," said J.D. Biagioni.
Police say a 5-year-old boy visiting a home on Cutter Hill Road was playing in the backyard sandbox.
A coyote approached and the child tried to run away, but the coyote bit him in the leg.
"It scares me because my kids are out in our yard, and we just live around the corner," said Collins. "My kids are out in the yard all the time."
Police say there's been a dramatic increase in the number of coyotes in Arlington over the last few years.
"I think they’re becoming a little bit more comfortable around humans who are making a lot of noise," said Ellis. "It doesn't seem to faze them as much."
The child who was bitten had two puncture wounds to his leg. He is expected be OK.
Police say homeowners should make their properties less appealing to wild animals.
"If you feed your pets inside, if you clean the area underneath your bird feeders, if you put a tight lid on your trash cans, and you lock up your dumpsters, you can avoid a lot of these potential encounters with a coyote," said Arlington Police Lt. Bryan Gallagher.
People at the home where the coyote attack took place declined to comment.
This was not the only recent coyote attack in Massachusetts. A 3-year-old girl was bitten on North Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown Wednesday. That coyote was killed and tested negative for rabies.
