PASADENA, Calif. — Frightening surveillance video from a home in Pasadena, California shows a coyote chasing a toddler through the front gate of his home.
A scream and call for “Mom” can be heard as the video shows 3-year-old Salvo Bessemer’s close call with the large coyote.
Once the toddler is off camera, a loud scream is heard, and the coyote runs away.
“Sal went out the gate like he always does before me. Then I heard a scream, and Sal came running back. He grabbed onto my legs, then I screamed because I saw a big, giant coyote,” the boy’s mother, Aida Svelto, said.
It happened in the middle of the afternoon on Monday on Tamarac Drive in Pasadena.
The video shows the toddler headed for the car when he stops in his tracks and races back inside. The coyote can be seen following right behind him through the family’s front gate.
“She texted me. She’s like, ‘A coyote just chased Sal,’ and I was like, ‘How?’ I checked the cameras. I was flabbergasted,” the boy’s father, Leonard Bessemer, said.
Salvo was not hurt in the encounter.
Seeing coyotes is nothing new in their hilly neighborhood, but the family says they’ve never seen an animal come that close.
“We have seen them, but they typically just stay on the street. I really didn’t feel nervous. Now I’m nervous,” Svelto said. “This one was bigger and scarier, and I just really didn’t think that he would go after a kid. It’s one thing to see them go after a chihuahua or rabbit or whatever, but he’s pretty big, so it was scary.”
Coyotes are a common part of life in Southern California, and experts say this time of year, the animals are especially active and inquisitive.
“It’s mating season, so they are out there at all times of the day. We’re going to be seeing them. We have seen them more in the last few weeks,” said Kevin McManus with Pasadena Humane. “Just be extra cautious. Keep an eye on your kids. Keep an eye on your pets.”
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