It has been a whirlwind of an adventure for a certain coyote that was struck by a motorist in late November and went on a well-known car ride.

Zoe Nakata is the Executive Director for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Ile Des Chênes. She admits that the situation surrounding their most recent patient is somewhat humorous.

A Jewish Rabbi, on his way to bless the kosher cheese at Bothwell Cheese, stopped his vehicle when he suddenly hit something running across the highway. When he got out to investigate, he mistook that something for a dog. It was actually a coyote.

Recognizing that the animal was hurt but not dead, the man had compassion and brought it into his car to be dealt with later. He proceeded by completing his commute and going about his shift as he would any other day. Upon returning to his vehicle, he found that the animal had woken up. Shortly thereafter he discovered that his wounded dog was actually a wild coyote.

“It was kind of a weird story,” laughs Nakata, “and all of a sudden we were getting calls from the Washingon Post and CNN and were seeing worldwide coverage about this funny coyote story.”

Once the animal was identified Wildlife Haven got involved.

“She came in pretty banged up,” Nakata says. “She had trauma for sure and had gashes on her face and legs.”

In a situation like this, Nakata says it is the centre’s goal to provide the safety, protection, and nutrition necessary for the animal to recuperate from the incident while at the same time keeping it as wild as possible.

“It went very smoothly,” she states. “[The coyote] went through a few weeks of care indoors, developing her reflexes. Once we were seeing favorable results, we moved her into an outdoor enclosure to ensure she would acclimatize to the winter weather.”

According to Nakata, the animal quickly adjusted and was in shape to be released soon after. She says the Wildlife Haven partnered with Steinbach Conservation officers to determine the best location to leave the animal and, on December 27th, said goodbye to their resident coyote.

“The release went very well. We drove out to a remote location, opened up her crate, gave her a little bit of time, and when she got her bearings she just ran off into the sunset. It was the perfect happy ending.”

The coyote, she says, never looked back. 

Now, Nakata expects the animal will rejoin its original pack and resume its life in the wilderness of southeastern Manitoba.