Later that year there was national media coverage about coyotes killing a female hiker on the same island. They are not as cute as they look.
They can definitely be pests and predators...though generally they're not known for human attacks...they tend more often to go after pets left outside, small farm animals, etc. I lived in California which was coyote central - long before they had spread themselves through the rest of the US in larger numbers, they were incredibly populous in California, even in urban areas. I saw and encountered them routinely - I've surprised them coming out my front door, passed them on trails, and had them jump across the road on my bike nearly hitting them. My father who lives in California even had one as a pet alongside his sheppard/doberman mix...it had been abandoned as a pup in his yard and the big dog took it in like its own - so he kept it for 11 long years - when the sheppard mix died, the coyote was distraught and spent days on end sitting out in the yard, not eating and refusing to come inside...until it died about two weeks later - seemingly from heartbreak.
There are occasional stories of coyotes seeing an opportunity to snatch a small child, but for the most part attacks on humans are immensely rare, except defensive bites, or very desperate, starving animals or sick animals. Note that the unfortunate woman killed in Cape Breton is to date the only known fatality of an adult by a coyote anywhere in the world, ever...and the only other known fatality of a person was back in 1981 when a 3-year old was killed in California. It really is pretty rare...and probably less common than the danger of a stray dog or even an aggressive pet killing someone.
Not to say caution shouldn't be taken with any wild animal, especially one that can bite - but I wouldn't think there's much need to fear them as you might a large brown bear, or a wolf...which can be much larger and more aggressive to adult humans.
My biggest scare when living in California was when out hiking in state park lands about 5 miles from urban areas on a long mountain trail, and coming upon a mountain lion. Now those can be rightfully feared by any size adult! Fortunately it stayed on its hill and I descended down the opposite direction calmly as I could, looking back as I reached the bottom of the hill for any sign it was following or tracking me. I made it back home and never saw it again...but it took the rest of that day for my heart rate to go down!
