Coyote in attack was rabid, state says

State health officials have determined that the coyote that attacked a 76-year-old Northborough grandfather on an afternoon walk with his grandson was rabid.

Arthur Cole, who was bitten multiple times, received a rabies vaccination yesterday. Cole said he was walking with his 4-year-old grandson, Nicholas, along a trail on the Assabet River near his home Wednesday afternoon when the coyote jumped out of nearby brush and bit him on the rear.

''I was trying to kick her away," he said. ''She was more agile than I was."

Cole said he stayed between the coyote and Nicholas, kicking the animal as it bit him. The coyote slinked away 50 feet, but then returned, lunging at Cole's face. He said that he reached for the animal's neck and that he and the coyote tumbled to the ground, where he landed on top of the animal, its head in the crook of his right arm.

Nicholas asked his grandfather if he should go for help and then ran a quarter of a mile to his grandparents' home. ''Grampy got attacked by a wolf," the boy recalled telling his father, Peter.

Cole said he struggled to catch his breath as the animal thrashed about, biting him. For the next half-hour, Cole lay there, until his son, police officers, and firefighters arrived.

''I didn't dare get up, because if I let go of her, she'd attack somebody," he said.

After firefighters controlled the animal with a snare, Cole was taken by ambulance to Marlborough Hospital, where he received 26 stitches on his face, hands, and legs.

The animal is the eighth rabid coyote discovered in Massachusetts since 1992, according to the state Department of Public Health.