(CNN) A New Hampshire man killed a coyote with his bare hands Monday after it grabbed his 2-year-old son by his jacket hood and dragged him to the ground.

Ian O'Reilly told CNN he had "never harmed an animal so it was a weird experience." After the coyote bit him twice while he tried fending it off, O'Reilly kicked it away and used his body weight to suffocate it while holding its snout shut, he said in an emailed statement.

The coyote has since tested positive for rabies, the New Hampshire Fish and Game said Tuesday, and authorities believe more animals in the Exeter area could have the virus.

"Based on all the evidence we have collected and in talking with several people who recently reported seeing coyotes acting erratically, we don't believe this is the only coyote in the Exeter area that may have rabies," said Col. Kevin Jordan, chief of the Fish and Game law enforcement division.

Rabies is a virus that infects mammals. When an infected animal bites a human, rabies is transmitted from saliva through the open wound and into the nerves, where the virus goes to the brain and spinal cord. CDC experts recommend seeing a doctor for post-exposure treatment soon after contact with an infected animal, before the virus has the chance to turn fatal.

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