Kelly Ripa recalls mistaking a coyote for a deer while hiking alone in Palm Springs

Kelly Ripa, the American actress and talk show host, recently opened up about her encounter with a coyote. She had initially thought it to be a deer, while she walked on a trekking path in Palm Springs.

The 53-year-old appeared on an episode of Live with Kelly and Mark on May 28, 2024, alongside her husband and co-host, Mark Consuelos. She recalled about their Memorial Day weekend plans, saying,

"I hiked a lot. I mean, a lot a lot, by myself, because Mark is terribly injured. His foot hurts and he's got a bad arm, it's all a mess. As I was hiking, I saw something run across my vision field. I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' because I'm from New Jersey. I was like, 'A deer!'... It wasn't a deer, it was a coyote."

Ripa added that she was unharmed and that she also warned locals about the trail.

---

Kelly Ripa recalls finding a coyote on hiking trial and trying to warn others

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos got married by eloping to a Las Vegas chapel, named the Chapel of the Bells on May 1, 1996. The couple share three now-adult children, Michael, 26, Lola, 22, and Joaquin, 21. On April 17, 2023, Consuelos joined his wife on the series for the first episode of Live with Kelly and Mark.

The previous host, alongside Kelly Ripa, was television presenter Ryan Seacrest. The couple appeared on Tuesday's episode of the talk show to welcome guests Adam Rodriguez, Jonathan Groff, and Rachel Platten. However, Ripa also talked about her weekend and how she came across a coyote while trekking.

The television personality revealed that she then contacted Consuelos, who offered to help her. However, Kelly Ripa shut down the idea because her husband's foot and arm were seemingly hurting. She quipped,

"I was like, yes, limp on over."

Consuelos then asked Kelly Ripa if the coyote attacked or bothered her in any way. The actress laughed it off explaining that it was a harmless encounter. However, she did try to inform other hikers on the trail about the coyotes, who had "totally ignored" her. She said,

"He totally ignored me, but, I was the town crier, warning everybody on the path walking their dogs! 'There's a coyote down there!' They're like, 'We know, we're from here.'"

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has stated that the region in Palm Springs could have up to 750,000 coyotes. The canine species' presence has resulted in several pets' and livestock disappearances and deaths each year.

Coyotes also attack humans, as per the department. They also captured notes that the animals can sometimes be a risk factor to airplane navigation as they "take up residence on or near runways."

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' daughter, Lola Consuelos, recently went viral for singing Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter and posting the cover song on TikTok. Lola graduated from NYU in 2023, and has since turned her focus to her music career. In August 2022, she dropped her debut single, Paranoia Silverlining.