Wily Coyote Follows Surgeon Into South Carolina Hospital: ‘It All Happened Very Quickly’

Wily Coyote Follows Surgeon Into South Carolina Hospital: ‘It All Happened Very Quickly’

It was “take your coyote to work” day on Feb. 15, when a South Carolina spinal surgeon accidentally let a growling coyote into his hospital.

Dr. Steve Poletti was on his way to work at the Southeastern Spine Institute in Mount Pleasant when the intruder snuck in. Coffee in hand, he opened the door to the building and entered — not realizing a wild coyote had swiftly slipped in behind him before the door closed.

“I felt something brush my leg and then turned around,” Poletti told ABC News. “At first glance, I thought it was a dog.”

He soon realized the cream-colored canine wasn’t a friendly pooch. “It kind of barred its teeth and started growling, and right then I knew it was a coyote.”

The incident was caught on surveillance video, where the animal can clearly be seen making its move. Minutes later, Poletti races out of the building — the coyote following in pursuit.

“We were enclosed in this small 10-by-10-foot stairwell area, and I didn’t want it to run into the operating room or into the office,” he explained. “I just shook my keys out of fear, and the coyote took a step back and looked like he was frightened. Then, I just made a run for it.”

Poletti was chased by the coyote for 10 feet — until the wild animal ran off, setting its sights on its next prey: a nearby squirrel.

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“It all happened very quickly,” said Poletti.

Since then, local police have sent animal control officers to help catch the trespassing coyote. While coyotes are abundant on South Carolina’s Sullivan Island, where Poletti lives, he said they rarely show up by his office — which is three miles away.

“I was just shocked because the office isn’t in a rural or forest area, and there are a lot of homes and commercial properties nearby,” he said. “We hear them howling on a nightly basis. There are definitely a lot of coyote reports in the surrounding areas, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a coyote enter a building like this before.”