Lucky Coyote Survives being Wedged Behind a Car Bumper
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

From Snopes.com
August 2012

Meet the wiliest of all coyotes...

Hit by a car at 75mph, embedded in the fender, rode for 600 miles - and SURVIVED!

In 2009 when a brother and sister struck a coyote at 75 mph, they assumed they had killed the animal and drove on.

They didn't realize this was the toughest creature ever to survive a hit-and-run.

Eight hours, two fuel stops, and 600 miles later they found the wild animal embedded in their front fender - and very much alive.

Daniel and Tevyn East were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah border when they noticed a pack of coyotes near the roadside.

When one of the animals ran in front of the car, the impact sounded fatal so the siblings thought there no point in stopping.

"Right off the bat, we knew it was bad," Daniel explained. "We thought the story was over."

After the incident around 1am, they continued their 600 mile drive to North San Juan - even stopping for fuel at least twice.But it was only when they finally reached their destination at 9am did they take time to examine what damage they may have sustained.

At first it looked as though it was going to be quite gruesome.

"[ Daniel ] saw fur and the body inside the grill," Tevyn East said. "I was trying to keep some distance. Our assumption was it was part of the coyote - it didn't register it was the whole animal."

Daniel East got a broom to try and pry the remains out of the bumper and got the shock of his life.

"It flinched," Tevyn East said. "It was a huge surprise - he got a little freaked out."

"We knew it was bad."

Tevyn East, who was in the car when it hit the coyote, bends down to take a look at the fur poking through the fender.

 
What Mr. East spotted as he bent down to inspect the damage to his car - the body of the coyote poking out through the radiator.

 
The animal's head can be seen as rescuers took apart the front fender to save him after he was struck by the car at 75mph.

 
As the animal struggled, wildlife protection officials put a loop around its neck to prevent him from further injuring himself.

The front of the car is completely taken apart as the coyote begins to wriggle free. And voila!

 
Tricky the toughest coyote ever rests in a cage after its ordeal - which it survived with just some scrapes to its paw.

The rescued coyote escaped from his wildlife kennel a few days later before he could be shipped back for release in Utah, and is now presumably leading a wild coyote's life in Northern California. 

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