Living in the city you wouldn't think you'd have to worry about wildlife attacking you or your children, but it happened in a Dallas neighborhood Tuesday morning. This attack left a Dallas two-year-old in a Dallas hospital in critical condition.

The coyote attack happened around 8:30 Tuesday morning in the Lake Highlands area near White Rock Lake in Dallas. The child was sitting on the front porch when the coyote approached and mauled him.

Officers responded to the 9-1-1 call and upon arrival one officer says he spotted the coyote in a park near the home and fired at the animal that continued to run into the woods. The officer was not sure if he wounded the animal. Dallas Police and Texas Game Wardens began a search for the animal but were unable to locate it.

According to reports from NBCDFW, this isn't the first encounter with a coyote in the area. A parent of two elementary school children says she came face-to-face with a coyote outside of the school just minutes before this attack was reported. The animal was reportedly scared away by a crossing guard. A Fox 4 viewer sent in a video of an extremely emaciated looking coyote that he saw in the neighborhood a few days earlier.

Coyotes are generally reclusive animals who prefer to avoid human contact. Coyotes are wild animals and should be regarded as such. Citizens should never approach, interact with or feed wild animals.'

You should try to scare the animal away humanely. Make loud noises, blow a whistle, bang on metal or pots and pans together. Make yourself larger than they are by waving your arms around or throwing small objects in their direction to scare them.

The boy remains in the hospital while the neighborhood is still on heightened alert for the animal that is considered extremely dangerous.