A Port Charlotte woman saved her dog from the clutches of a coyote's jaw.
Beverly Mott was walking her Chihuahua "Otis" right in front of her house on Dunstan Avenue last week.
“I took them right out front here, and this one was doing his business, and I wasn’t looking at him, and all of a sudden I hear this horrible squeal and the coyote had him by the mouth.”
Beverly screamed at the coyote, but it wouldn't give up.
“He didn’t drop him, he looked at me like this is my meal, and I’m keeping it, and I’m thinking this is my dog, and I’m getting my dog back.”
Blood was covering Otis by the time she fought off the coyote, and even after the animal let go it chased Otis around the back of the house.
"I was panicked, absolutely panicked, I opened the back door and snatched Otis in and closed the door.”
Just days after the attack, Otis's scars are slowly healing, but he’s still a little scared to go out. This isn't the first encounter Otis has had with a coyote.
“He was trotting right down the middle of the road, and this one went right after him, he goes after any dog that walks by, so he’s going straight for the coyote and the coyote just took off running.”
Mott and her neighbors worry about that coyote going on the offensive again, especially with so many small dogs in the neighborhood.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission says coyotes live in almost every county statewide, there is no program for relocating them.
They say never to feed coyotes and do not leave anything outside especially pet and bird food which can attract them to your home.
