The coyote also tangled with two dogs, WCAU-TV in Philadelphia reported.

Marie Torquati encountered the coyote Tuesday when she took out the trash at her home in Northampton County in the Lehigh Valley. She ended up with a wound on her finger.

"It had a long ugly nose, it wasn't very tall, straggly," Torquati said. "I thought it was a wolf."

Another man used a trash can lid to force the coyote out of his yard.

Police officers in Palmer Township tracked the animal later that day and killed it, taking the carcass for testing.

Coyotes have become increasingly common in eastern states after spreading from the west.