Michael Barnes holds, Blue, who was injured after they were both attacked, says Barnes, by a coyote while out for a walk on Saturday, April 11, 2009. (DARREN BROWN/SUN MEDIA)

The next time Michael Barnes walks his dog in the Greenbelt, he'll be carrying a bat.

The 60-year-old semi-retired contractor is an animal lover, but he's not afraid to bash a coyote if one attacks again. Yes, again.

"I'm still shook up," Barnes said yesterday, two days after a coyote chased him up a tree near Anderson and Innes roads. "This guy," he said of the coyote, "was either rabid or very hungry."

Barnes said he was walking his dog Blue -- a white, 11-year-old, 5-lb. toy poodle cross-mix -- through the Greenbelt on Saturday around noon when a coyote emerged from the woods and started trotting toward them. Then it started to pick up speed.

Fearing for his dog's safety and his own, Barnes grabbed Blue and ran to the nearest tree. He climbed 6 feet.

"It's actually pretty hard to climb a tree with a dog under your arm," Barnes said.

With the coyote staring them down, Barnes heard the sound of a dirt bike in the distance. The noise scared off the animal, but the branch under Barnes broke and they crashed to the ground.

Barnes received a 6-inch gash down the right side of his body, a scraped face and a throbbing headache. Blue suffered a scrape to the belly.

He wants to warn others of the danger lurking on the Greenbelt path, which he has walked for more than 20 years.

"My concern is for families who go out there with small children," Barnes said.

Barnes figures he'll be off work for a couple of weeks while he recovers.

The attack won't stop him from returning with Blue.

"When I'm healthy to go out again, I'm certainly taking a baseball bat," he said.