Crazy coyote runaround. (Exercising the Right).(Jimmy Hawthorne attacked by rapid coyote, uses 12-gauge shotgun to shoot torso, preserves head for rabies testing)

Jimmy Hawthorne lives on a 300-acre wooded site in eastern New Kent, Virginia. On January 26th, he was riding his lawn mower some 400 yards from his home when a coyote emerged from a nearby thicket. Without provocation, the animal attacked him. (This was unusual, since coyotes are typically not aggressive toward humans, and there had never been a reported case of a coyote attacking a human in Virginia, nor a confirmed case of a rabid one in the state.)

The coyote began snapping at Hawthorne's legs. Since Hawthorne was unarmed, he could only fend off the coyote by kicking it. When the coyote momentarily retreated into the woods, Hawthorne attempted to ride back to his house, but the mower ran out of gas with some 300 yards to go. The coyote returned, and as the two scurried around the mower, Hawthorne again sought to hold it at bay with kicks, and with jabs from a large stick he had picked up.

All told, the bizarre man-versus-beast confrontation lasted about 20 minutes before Hawthorne was able to deliver a kick sufficiently potent to force the coyote into a second retreat. Seizing the opportunity, Hawthorne took off running, but as he reached the yard of ...