This mother fought a coyote to protect her 4-year-old daughter

Adrenaline can push a person to do things they didn’t think they could. In one Arizona woman’s case, it enabled her to wrestle a coyote away from her 4-year-old daughter. Brittany Cardinal and her daughter were outside in Surprise, Arizona, when she saw a coyote nipping at the young girl.

Luckily, Cardinal was able to get the coyote away from her child, but she herself was left with injuries. According to Arizona Game and Fish officials, this is the first wild coyote attack on someone within the area since December 2023.

How the attack unfolded

Cardinal and her daughter were outside flying kites on September 6, 2026, when she heard her daughter scream. She turned to find a coyote nipping at the child, and immediately ran over. She told AZ Family, “I picked her up and then I started yelling at it, thinking, of course it’s going to go away, and then it didn’t.”

Though the coyote didn’t back down, neither did Cardinal, who then removed her flip-flop and tried to frighten the animal away by hitting at it. However, that only served to work the wild animal up even more, and while the two struggled, Cardinal fell. That’s when the coyote attacked her and clamped its jaws around her face.

Cardinal explained, “I always hear people say, ‘You don’t feel the pain when, like, trauma like that happens,’ and I mean, I really didn’t feel any pain. I just felt like the pressure of it.”

Finally, she and her daughter were able to escape and call for help.

Wildlife officials’ response to the attack praised Cardinal

A spokesperson for Arizona Game and Fish reportedly stated that coyote attacks are rare, even if coyote sightings may not be, and it’s unclear why this particular one decided to go after the child. However, wildlife officials have removed a number of the animals from that area and are testing them for rabies.

The spokesperson also praised Cardinal, saying that the mother did exactly what she should have done in that situation. They allegedly said, “You fight back, you yell at the animal, be loud with it, throw rocks, whatever you have to do to get that animal to just run off.”

Arizona Game and Fish also shared recommendations to reduce the chances of a coyote encounter. These included removing trash, pet food, or any other item that smells of food away from areas where a coyote could encounter them. Many wild animals are losing their natural habitats to human-made changes, leading them to seek food elsewhere, which accounts for the rise in all kinds of wild animal attacks. Likewise, if a coyote wanders into one’s yard, yell and make loud noises until it runs away.

As for Cardinal, her injuries were fairly minor, although stitches were needed, and she certainly has no regrets about jumping in to save her daughter. She reportedly said, “There was no hesitation at all. I don’t even think I thought about anything. I think you just, like, as a mom, you just try to protect your kid.” However, she stated that from now on she’ll be carrying pepper spray with her wherever she goes, just in case.

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