Doreen Entrup knew something was wrong when she saw cars stopped ahead and a deer sprinting away. That’s when she saw a coyote causing havoc Saturday about 100 yards away on Grenadier Drive in Mahwah.

She tried not to panic and slowly turned to walk in the other direction. But the coyote wasn’t playing along.

“I turned around to see if the coyote was gone and it was right there,” she said.

It lunged.

Then bit and scratched her arms and legs.

Entrup ran to a neighbor’s garage and found a baseball bat. She used it to beat back the animal. Then, her neighbor opened her kitchen door and she escaped inside.

“If my neighbor wasn’t home, I don’t think [the coyote] would stop,” she said, “It wasn’t stopping.”

The attack left Entrup with 14 puncture wounds on her arms and legs. She said she has to get four rounds of injections for tetanus and rabies and won’t go walking outside again until the animal is caught.

Mahwah Police and an animal control service the township hired were still trying to catch the coyote by early Sunday afternoon, an animal control official said. It had been spotted a few times in the neighborhood in the week leading up to the attack, Entrup said.

It’s common to see wildlife in her neighborhood, where most homes are on about an acre of land, she said. A family of foxes lives in her neighbors backyard.

In June, police in Fairfield, about 30 miles away, shot and killed a coyote suspected of having attacked a woman and her 4-year-old son. Onlookers scared the animal away.

But Entrup, who was raised in Brooklyn and has lived in Mahwah for 19 years, said she didn’t expect an animal attack.

A week ago, Entrup would describe herself as a “supermom” and freelance marketing executive, on Sunday she jokingly added “coyote wrestler, warrior" to her title.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cassidy Grom may be reached at cgrom@njadvancemedia.com Follow her at @cassidygrom . Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips .

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