2-year-old girl given rabies vaccine after coyote bite at Lake Las Vegas, record reveals
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Records from the Nevada Division Of Wildlife Law Enforcement details the moments that a 2-year-old girl was bit by a coyote at Lake Las Vegas the beginning of this year.
On Tuesday, Jan. 9, the grandfather of the child called NDOW dispatch reporting that she was bitten by a coyote around 10 a.m. He told wardens that the coyote bit the right lower leg of his granddaughter.
In the record, he told officials the coyote tried to drag her away, but was unsuccessful. He said her mother separated the coyote and medical was requested to treat the bite wounds. The 2-year-old girl was transported to St. Rose Dominican Hospital for further treatment.
According to the record, the girl was treated with a gamma gobulin shot, a topical antibiotic and was given one of the four shots of a rabies vaccine.
The day of the incident, Game Warden Zachary Blackwood told the family that Lake Las Vegas was becoming a concern as people were illegally feeding coyotes in the area. FOX5′s Joe Vigil previously reported coyotes biting people in the area as the City of Henderson announced warnings.
After the incident, game wardens canvassed Lake Las Vegas where they encountered multiple coyotes. The record shows that coyotes were struck by game wardens’ rifles as they came into close contact.
Game wardens interviewed the mother of the child two days after the incident. The mother said she was walking with her two daughters near the Seasons Grocery store and approached a set of bushes with a tall tree in the middle.
At this moment, she said a coyote they had seen earlier in their walk “darted out” from behind the bushes and bit the right lower leg of her daughter and “began to shake her.”
She said she separated her daughter from the coyote and chased it into a group of condos. This was when medical, Henderson police and fire departments were called to render aid.
As of Jan. 23, game wardens say the area of Lake Las Vegas has been rid of most of the coyotes. Officials said in the record that with more patrols, two coyotes still actively roaming the area looking for food should be removed “in the next few weeks.”
“Lake Las Vegas property management has been in coordination with NDOW Conservation Education on developing signs prohibiting the feeds of area wildlife, especially coyotes,” game wardens wrote in the record. “All coyotes that were tested for rabies have been analyzed and came back with negative test results.”
To report coyote feeding, the Nevada Department of Wildlife provided this number: 702-688-1331
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