A close call involving a coyote was caught on camera in California earlier this week.
Coyotes aren’t uncommon in Southern California. However, they tend to keep their distance from humans, even though there’s a lot of overlap in coyote and human territory in the Pasadena area. But as this video below shows, this particular wild animal was the exception.
A parent’s worst nightmare played out just outside of a Pasadena home on Monday. Aida Svelto was outside with her 3-year-old son, Salvo Bessemer, when a coyote lurking close by started to chase down the toddler. As the mother explained to ABC 7, it was all very normal and ordinary until it wasn’t:
“Sal went out the gate like he always does before me. Then I heard a scream, and Sal came running back. He grabbed onto my legs, then I screamed because I saw a big, giant coyote.”
So much for them being more scared of us than we are of them.
The 3-year-old knew something was up and decided to turn back once he saw the large coyote coming his way. It was a fortunate decision, and his mother’s screams after realizing a) what had just happened and b) there was a coyote on her property scared the wild canine off.
Leonard Bessemer, Sal’s father, wouldn’t have believed the encounter if not for the security camera footage that captured it all:
“She texted me. She’s like, ‘A coyote just chased Sal,’ and I was like, ‘How?’ I checked the cameras. I was flabbergasted.”
It’s just not something you assume you would have to worry about… especially right in the middle of the day.
Both parents were incredibly caught off guard by the situation. Walking out of the gate and into the driveway was something that Sal and his mother probably did a hundred times before. This time, there just so happened to be a coyote waiting for them… and chasing the boy back towards the house.
Here’s what the California family saw when they checked their home security cameras:
@abc7la It’s a terrifying sight for any parent. A coyote chases a frightened little boy through the front gate of a #Pasadena ♬ original sound – ABC7LA
Sheesh that’s scary.
Shoutout to the 3-year-old’s instincts to run away from the unknown animal. A kid that young could have easily confused the approaching canine as a neighborhood dog. Instead, he realized that something was off and decided to run away to the safety of his own home.
It’s currently coyote mating season, so that explains why more and more are being seen in this Pasadena neighborhood (and other places that coyotes call home). And Aida Svelto was aware that coyotes lived and traversed the area… but she never thought one would come after her kiddo:
“We have seen them, but they typically just stay on the street. I really didn’t feel nervous. Now I’m nervous. This one was bigger and scarier, and I just really didn’t think that he would go after a kid. It’s one thing to see them go after a chihuahua or rabbit or whatever, but he’s pretty big, so it was scary.”
Definitely scary… and the family is fortunate that no one was hurt.
You can view the entire story from ABC 7 – and see the security camera footage once more – at the link below:
