Taylor Mitchell, 1990-2009. R.I.P.

This is absolutely awful.

Taylor Mitchell, an up and coming country/folk singer-songwriter from Toronto, was attacked yesterday by two coyotes while hiking in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia and died of her injuries today. She was only 19.

Mitchell was on tour in the Maritimes promoting her debut album For Your Consideration which she released this past spring.

Coyote attacks on humans are rare and when they do attack it is usually against small children.

But fatalities are nearly unheard of.

Here's a 2005 article from National Geographic on the subject of aggressive behavior in coyotes.

The two keys here are a) don't feed the coyotes and b) take steps to ensure that coyotes have a healthy fear of humans. If we stay away from them and they stay away from us all will be well. Unfortunately, that is of little consolation to Taylor Mitchell's family.

The rare yet random nature of this attack but makes her fate all the more cruel.