A group of campers and a dog had a scare Friday night when a group of coyotes surrounded their tent near Baddeck, N.S.

The coyotes attempted to get into the tent, according to the RCMP.

Cpl. Andrew Joyce says the area is remote and inaccessible by all-terrain vehicles.

"When there is wildlife involved, as you can imagine, they're very unpredictable," Joyce said.

The campers were found and rescued from their Fairy Hole campsite by boat with the help of the coast guard.

One of the campers sustained minor injuries during an attempt to climb into the boat.

Numerous RCMP and other government agencies helped with the rescue, including Antigonish police dog services, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the provincial department of natural resources, Coast Guard Halifax and Coast Guard Reserve.

"So in this situation, given the circumstances, we gave it the highest priority as we were fearing extreme risk of safety for those who were in that situation," Joyce said.

The number of coyotes isn't known, Joyce said, because the campers were in the tent and it was dark at the time.

"I believe we were within contact physically within an hour of the event, and it was somewhat — without sounding dramatic —heroic of the persons that did make contact.

"It was quite a way to go, and at the time of the day, under darkness," he added. "But because of the urgency, the rescuers did make contact fairly fast, and that in itself is a credit to those members who achieved that."

Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old Toronto folk singer, was killed in 2009 when she was attacked by two coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

RCMP advise campers to always bring a fully charged cellphone in case of an emergency and to consider bringing noisemakers to scare off wildlife that may be aggressive.