Coyotes Attack Monroe County Jogger

10 Years Ago: Clint Benge, of Culloden, with his dog Rebel the day after the Aug. 22, 2004 attack by two coyotes in Monroe County. The coyotes had Clint on the ground when Rebel took one coyote on and killed it. That gave Clint a one-on-one battle with the other coyote. Both coyotes were killed on the scene.

Each month we turn back the clock to see what was being reported in the pages of GON—30, 20 and 10 years ago. Here’s a look back at stories that appeared in GON.

20 Years Ago: Coyotes Attack Monroe County Jogger: It’s like something you’d see on the 1990s TV series When Animals Attack! A young man jogging down a wood’s road hears growls, suddenly he’s on his back and a coyote is biting his arm and clawing his chest while another coyote latches onto his wrist.

For Clint Benge, of Culloden, it was all too real when an evening run Aug. 22, 2004 turned into a fight for his life.

“I run every day,” Clint said. “Normally I run on the highway, but I wanted to take the trail so I could take my dog with me. My dog Rebel was out in front of me down the trail, and the coyotes just came out of the woods. They got in the stance like they were going to attack me. I backed up and put my hands out, like telling them, ‘I don’t want nothing with you.’ And they were sitting there growling at me. About the time I backed up, they started in on me.”

The two coyotes knocked Clint to the ground and the larger one sank its teeth into Clint’s right arm. The smaller coyote was biting and trying to sink its teeth in Clint’s left wrist.

“They had me on my back, I was punching them, but I couldn’t fight off both of them. That’s when Rebel took over and got that little one out of the way. He tore that coyote up. Rebel came up behind him and grabbed him by the neck and just threw him off me.

“I took the big one and threw him off me, then he tried to jump on me again. I just grabbed him and choke slammed him and got on him and hit him and hit him until he went practically unconscious. Then I grabbed him by the neck and choked him.”

Both coyotes lay dead on the trail. Clint spent more than four hours in the emergency room getting two bite wounds patched, as well as numerous deep scratches. He also had to get his first series of six rabies shots that night. The next day the carcasses were gone, so Clint had to continue with a series of rabies shots since the coyotes couldn’t be tested.