Girl Bitten by Coyote Gets Rabies Shots

A 3-year-old Fullerton girl began a series of rabies shots Wednesday after she was attacked by a coyote just steps from her family’s driveway.

Jennifer Dimmick was out playing with other children Monday, while adults nearby were watching, when she drifted from the group about 7:30 p.m. and walked to a brush area near the driveway. The coyote leaped from a bush and bit her on the face, neck and leg, said David Dimmick, her father.

“My wife and I were standing no more than 30 yards away with a couple of our neighbors when we heard her screaming and crying,” said Dimmick, 48.

Some of the adults in the Fieldstone Arbor neighborhood briefly saw the coyote running away, Dimmick said. Four Orange County Animal Control trucks arrived, but workers did not catch the coyote.

The child was rushed to the hospital, where she received three stitches on her face, three staples at the nape of her neck and bandages to her leg wounds. She began a 28-day rabies treatment Wednesday.

“She’s adjusted remarkably well,” Dimmick said. “She was out playing today.”

Animal control officials said coyote sightings are not uncommon, especially in areas with brush and rabbits. To avoid attracting wild animals, authorities recommend that residents keep tight lids on trash bins and remove ripened fruit from their yards.