Why should you carry a gun?

A Colorado man fought off three coyotes using his flashlight as a club on Monday as he walked home in the small hours of the morning.

Set upon by the three wild dogs in Niwot, Andrew Dickhage, 22, was trying to fix his car in the pitch black when the raging dogs charged at him.

Initially using his arm as a shield, Dickhage battered back the dogs with his torch when he realised he was fighting for his life when the dogs tried to go for his neck.

Coyote attacks are mercifully rare, but there are often other predators on the road late at night.