I've never heard of a coyote attack. They are generally solo. I hear them in packs very often, but almost always at night. They will pick on critters smaller than them and go for the young. They aren't all that big themselves. They do roam around during the day, that's how I regularly see them.
I like this, "Coyote attacks on people are very rare. More people are killed by errant golf balls and flying champagne corks each year than are bitten by coyotes."
Being nearly harmless, Their odd behavior may be caused by rabies. I was always made afraid of coyotes and dogs when I was a child in New Mexico, just because of the rabies factor. The adults made it sound like it was all around. It is rare. It does happen. Coyotes will just shy away, or take off. I see them crossing the road. They don't hang out there. I see them out my window, they are passing through, or hiding. If one didn't do that, I'd look for foam on the mouth.
Being in the middle of a group of coyotes, I imagine, would be a scary thing. They would be alarmed and those howls multiplied and amplified would be a true spook in close proximity. I have had them howling on my property maybe forty or 50 feet away and dang it feels real. I would expect them to scatter, if I walked into them, unless they had some food in the middle of them. Still, most likely they would be evasive, if I was stupid enough to mess with them like that.They are in the business of pets. They like to lure dogs away with a bitch in heat, then attack in a group, which is common.
Mountain Lions/cougars/pumas may attack livestock. Perhaps the woman on horseback was mistaken for livestock. Lions will attack anything that they perceive is running away. They seem to know enough to stay away from humans and run away. Internet statistics say that the odds and probabilities are nil that they would attack humans. They can be huge athletic and intimating. They have been running away whenever I have encountered them. I more often smell them, but don't see them. I avoid them, if I can. They are out there making a living. They don't take risks.
Statistics on Lyme's disease wasn't even taken until fairly recently, so says the internet. It is pretty rare in Arizona. "Although Lyme disease is not present in Arizona, there are still cases in Maricopa County from residents who have traveled to an endemic area or relocated to Arizona from an endemic area. On average, there are about 1-10 confirmed or probable cases of Lyme disease each year in Maricopa County. All of the confirmed or probable cases were exposed outside of Arizona, in areas where Lyme disease is endemic."
Dogs get ticks here, but not the lyme ones.
I just never think about ticks. I notice critters on me because I am nude. I give them little safe harbor. Crawling around in the muck getting errant golf balls in Virginia as a kid certainly got me some ticks, but I stay naked and stay out of places like that, now. Poison ivy stops growing at around 5000 ft. in Arizona, up to 8500 ft. in Colorado and New Mexico. Here it is just in very wet riparian areas and most of these are gone. If I'm in one of those, I try not to brush against plants, or stay away from them and on a trail, because who is under those plants is of more concern. "Because uroshiol is only found in resin canals, a plant must be bruised or attacked by chewing/sucking insects in order for the allergenic agent to be on leaves or stems. Uroshiol does not occur in pollen."
We don't have brown bears here. We have only black bears.
It would seem that Arizona is pretty user friendly, other than rattlers and scorpions.
Bees? There was the killer bee scare years ago. They got bred out. There are swarms in the spring that get my notice when I'm plain naked, but they are always in a swarm and high above. They stop me cold. I just stand and listen, alarmed. There has been no risk yet, with numerous swarms over the years. The local bees, look different than the usual yellow stripe folk. Saw one with the typical look and a brown Mohawk last week. It came across as pretty mellow.
There are many crawly things in the night in Arizona nature. I prefer a net tent, or bivy, instead of cowboy camping. Some of them will bite. There are ants. If we stop to eat a snack, we find a rock to sit. I put down a piece of cloth. Often, the ants will come out eventually, if a few aren't discouraging us when we arrive. That is why people are meant to squat-sit, I suppose.
Jbee
