Mahwah officials issue warning to public after 3 coyote attacks

Mahwah officials want the community to be watchful after three separate coyote attacks over the weekend.
Ramapo Valley County Reservation remains closed following three attacks. Police say that a woman and dog were attacked by coyotes in two of the incidents. Bergen County officials are asking the public to avoid hiking in the reservation until it is reopened. Mahwah residents are also being told to keep pets indoors as much as possible for their protection.
Carlos Castillo was also involved in an attack. He tells News 12 New Jersey that he was hiking in the reservation Saturday with his girlfriend when a coyote stopped them in their tracks.
"I just said ‘Let's just make some noise and try to scare it off’ and unfortunately it just darted for her,” Castillo of Hawthorne says. "As soon as it jumped up it basically attached to my leg once I tried to block her. I punched it off me and it ran away."
Castillo was taken to the hospital and given multiple rabies shots, and will be OK. He says that he wasn’t surprised to hear that other were also attacked this weekend.
"I pretty much assumed that the coyote was going to attack more people that day, that's why I tried to notify everybody on the way down,” he says.
Mahwah police say that anyone who sees a coyote out in public should not run away from it. Instead, they are told to make a lot of noise and then call 911.
Residents are also warned to not feed the coyotes.