The attacks occurred in the evening, one at 7:15 pm and one around 9:30 pm.
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106300337
It was definitely hunting time for the animals involved, and the children were small and moving quickly. All the cues for "Let's get our prey!" were there.
It's incredibly unfortunate and I'm so glad the children are OK, but here in Westchester we've encroached so much on the animals' space that they're getting used to human proximity. Not that that's an excuse or comfort for the kids who were attacked, but people who don't really know about wildlife don't always seem to get this; it's not a horror movie where suddenly evil scary predators descend for no reason. I live farther north than Rye in a less populated area and have learned to appreciate the coyotes' role in the ecosystem and treat them with a combination of respect and fear. But they're just following the prey animals, who now flourish in southern Westchester probably more than up north because they haven't really had predation pressure.
OK, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. While the people in that community are understandably nervous, it doesn't help that the media fan the flames of fear. I do give them credit for at least interviewing wildlife experts and including that information in the stories, though.
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106300337
It was definitely hunting time for the animals involved, and the children were small and moving quickly. All the cues for "Let's get our prey!" were there.
It's incredibly unfortunate and I'm so glad the children are OK, but here in Westchester we've encroached so much on the animals' space that they're getting used to human proximity. Not that that's an excuse or comfort for the kids who were attacked, but people who don't really know about wildlife don't always seem to get this; it's not a horror movie where suddenly evil scary predators descend for no reason. I live farther north than Rye in a less populated area and have learned to appreciate the coyotes' role in the ecosystem and treat them with a combination of respect and fear. But they're just following the prey animals, who now flourish in southern Westchester probably more than up north because they haven't really had predation pressure.
OK, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. While the people in that community are understandably nervous, it doesn't help that the media fan the flames of fear. I do give them credit for at least interviewing wildlife experts and including that information in the stories, though.