Possible coyote attacks shut down trails near North Carolina lake, officials say Simone Jasper, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Mar. 8—Derik Broach was on a North Carolina trail Saturday when he said a coyote ran toward him. "It was not defending itself, it was attacking, and that's what's very scary," Broach told WFMY. Broach, who said he used pepper spray and his mountain bike to ward off the coyote, wasn't hurt, the TV station reported. But it wasn't the only recent animal encounter near Lake Brandt in Greensboro. At least three people were injured in possible coyote attacks in the same area over the weekend, according to Guilford County Animal Services.