Wild Coyotes of Golden Gate Park Scare Pit Bulls

San Franciscans love their dogs -- but how about when a dog is wild and baring its teeth in their beloved Golden Gate Park?

That canine, good sir, is a coyote. And an "aggressive" one that scares the bejeezus out of civilized San Franciscan pit bulls, according to reports.

Local resident Haley Bratton was walking her pair of pit bulls in Golden Gate Park when the trio encountered such a coyote, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Last week, a coyote "charged" to within three feet of Bratton's coterie, "growling and baring his teeth," the newspaper reported.

The "two big dogs, 80 and 65 pounds" each, were terrified of their wild cousin, who advanced steadily on the dogs, the newspaper reported. The coyote was not successfully shooed away until a bicyclist and then a Recreation and Parks Department truck arrived, causing the coyote to "slink off."

It's pup season and the coyote was just likely defending its den, a spokesperson for Animal Care and Control told the newspaper. Which begs the question: den? How many more wild dogs are in Golden Gate Park?

"I was there the next day, and there were all these little kids running around and little old ladies with little dogs," Bratton told the newspaper. "I'd just hate for something to happen."

Be alert. Things could get coyote ugly.