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Broomfield Dad Describes Coyote Attack On His Son

BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) - A coyote bit and injured a Broomfield boy on Monday night while he was walking with his father and 9-month-old sister.

The attack took place just after 8 p.m. on a path through some open space in the Anthem subdivision in the northern part of Broomfield.

The father reported to animal control officers that the coyote came out of some tall grass and bit his son on his back side, knocking him down.

"All of a sudden I see kind of a flash, just kind of a scurrying, and then an animal running towards him," the father, who wished not to be identified, told CBS4's Mike Hooker. "It didn't register until right when it was there that it was a coyote and it knocked him over. I don't think my son saw it until it was knocking him over. It bit him in the lower back."

After the boy screamed and the father hollered the coyote ran back into the grass. Watch Hooker's report in the video clip below:

The boy, who is 2 1/2, was treated for bite wounds at an urgent care. Doctors gave him rabies shots just in case.

"We do believe this is not normal coyote behavior," Jennifer Churchill with Colorado Parks & Wildlife said.

Animal control officers said Tuesday they are searching for the animal in the attack.

"When we need to go remove a coyote from the population we are going to exhibit lethal control. We are actually going to kill that animal," Churchill said.

The boy's father said his son was more scared that hurt.

"I don't think he knew what hit him. He asked me if the Easter Bunny bit him," he said. "He's seen rabbits out here all over the place. They're the same color, that grayish light brown color. I explained to him that it was a coyote."

The attack won't stop the family's evening walks, according to the dad.

"I just want to make people aware. I don't want people to be scared; I don't think they should be."

Coyote attacks on humans are rare in Colorado.

Wildlife officials say that if you see a coyote near you or near your house you should try to scare it away. The goal is to not make coyotes feel safe close to humans.

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