Latest coyote-bite victim speaks out, chalks it up to 'life experience'

LAFAYETTE, Calif. - John Stevenson says he was taking a break from skateboarding in Lafayette when a coyote came out of nowhere and bit him in the thigh. He shot video after the attack showing the animal calming trotting away afterward.

"It snuck up on me pretty good, and then bit me and it ran off to McDonald's," Stevenson, 20, said Thursday.

It happened Friday after Stevenson bought a drink at the Kwik Stop off busy Mt. Diablo Boulevard. He says he walked across the street and decided to take a break near a dumpster to cool off from skateboarding.

"Just sitting down on my board, just chilling for a quick minute, just to relax - and it bit me," Stevenson said.

He showed KTVU the bite marks.

"The way that his jaws were so wide is pretty interesting," he said.

Stevenson says he had no idea it was a coyote at first.

"It didn't hurt too bad. So I was like, 'Ah, it wasn't too bad,' and then I finally pulled my pants down, looked at the wound and I was like, 'These are, like, four deep puncture marks.' "

Stevenson seems to be taking it all in stride.

"It's unlucky that I got bit by a coyote, but at the same time, it's just, I don't know, it's an interesting life experience to say the least, I got bitten by a coyote," he said with a laugh.

So far, the coyote has managed to avoid traps set on private property by federal wildlife officials.

There have been plenty of coyote sightings, like one casually walking near the Lafayette Reservoir earlier this month and caught on video by David Shaffer.           

"He came right by me literally, and I pulled out my camera and I said, ''Maybe it's not afraid of me, this might be the one that's the biter and I can help identify it and maybe we can capture it,' Shaffer said.