Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw

Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw

Worshipping nature is, as far as I'm concerned, a perfectly understandable thing to do. We are, after all, the product of it. But forgetting (or ignoring) that Nature can be a coldhearted bitch is something that many people learn is a very bad idea, each and every year.

Nineteen year-old up-and-coming Folk singer Taylor Mitchell learned this lesson yesterday. It was one of the last lessons of her short life:

Coyotes kill woman on hike in Canadian park

Two coyotes attacked a promising young musician as she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.

The victim was identified as Taylor Mitchell, 19, a singer-songwriter from Toronto who was touring to promote her new album on the East Coast.

She was hiking solo on a trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia on Tuesday when the attack occurred. She was airlifted to a Halifax hospital in critical condition and died Wednesday morning, authorities said.

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Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Brigdit Leger said other hikers heard Mitchell's screams for help on Tuesday and called emergency police dispatchers.

Police who were in the area reached the scene quickly and shot one of the animals, apparently wounding it. But the wounded animal and a companion coyote managed to get away.

Paul Maynard of Emergency Health Services said Mitchell already was in critical condition when paramedics arrived on the scene and had multiple bite wounds over her entire body.

"She was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds," he said.

Those beautiful wild animals aren't Disney Audio-Animatronics. While this was in Canada, do you really have to ask why people want to be able to legally carry a firearm in a National Park?