RUTLAND (CBS) – Attacked by an 80 pound coyote in his own backyard, a Rutland man says he only had seconds to react.

Brian Hutchins tapped into some wrestling moves he remembered from high school to flip the coyote over and fight him off. He says he sees coyotes all the time in his backyard, which is why he goes out every night around sunset to take his chickens in. Wednesday night, he says, he was caught completely off guard.

“I started walking out, looked at the chickens, and that was when the coyote jumped on my back,” Brian Hutchins said.

That was around 8pm Wednesday night, when Brian went to put his hens away for the night.

“It was holding onto me, almost ripped my coat off. But I got him over, and that’s when I just blocked his kicks, trying to claw at my face. And I just started stabbing him,” Brian said.

The injured coyote ran off and hasn’t been seen since.

Brian says it was his knife and his thick jacket that saved him.

“The back of my neck is sore, but I have no puncture wounds, because it was trying to bite my head, my neck,” Brian recalled.

Brian is still a little shaken up and has some scratches left but is relieved that he is OK.

“I was very scared. Not too much scares me but it was really, very scary,” Brian said.

Brian will check in with his doctor to see if he needs a rabies shot. Mass Wildlife was at his home surveying the area and they believe the coyote thought that he was an animal and not a human because he was coming up from a basement door.

Rutland Police want people to keep an extra eye out and protect their wildlife.