‘No hesitation’: Mother fights off coyote that began attacking her 4-year-old daughter

SURPRISE, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) — An Arizona mother is recovering after fighting off a coyote that began attacking her 4-year-old daughter over the weekend.

Brittany Cardinal said the attack happened during what started as a Sunday afternoon of kite flying with her daughter in her neighborhood.

“We had gone outside because it was windy. And my daughter’s like, ‘Oh, let’s fly a kite,’” Cardinal said.

The mother said she then heard her daughter scream and turned around to see a coyote nipping at her.

“I picked her up, and then I started yelling at it, thinking, of course, it was going to go away, but then it didn’t,” Cardinal said.

When the coyote did not back down, Cardinal said she did not either.

“I took off my flip-flop, and I was trying to scare it with that by trying to hit it,” Cardinal said.

But during the struggle, the mother fell, and the coyote lunged, clamping down on her face.

“I always hear people say, ‘You don’t feel the pain when trauma like that happens,’ and I mean, I really didn’t feel any pain. I just felt like the pressure of it,” Cardinal said.

Cardinal and her daughter eventually managed to back away from the coyote and ran home for help. The attack left the mother with lacerations and puncture wounds on her face.

Arizona Game and Fish officials said it was the first recorded coyote attack on a person in the Phoenix area since December 2023.

Alex Flickinger, public affairs community liaison for Arizona Game and Fish, said the reason for the attack remains unclear.

Flickinger said Cardinal responded the way people are supposed to when a coyote attacks.

“You fight back, you yell at the animal, be loud with it, throw rocks, whatever you have to do to get that animal to just run off,” Flickinger said.

Regarding her actions, Cardinal said she did not weigh her options before acting.

“There was no hesitation at all. I don’t even think I thought about anything. I think you, like a mom, try to protect your kid,” she said.

The mother said she will now carry pepper spray with her at all times.

Arizona Game and Fish noted that officers have removed several coyotes from the area and are testing them for rabies.