A Saskatchewan town has asked hunters for help amid reports that unusually aggressive coyotes bit at a small girl's pants and carried off a pet.

Officials in White City, just east of Regina, said two hunters volunteered to track down the animals.

Howard Slack, the town's deputy mayor, said on Wednesday that one hunter killed three coyotes on Sunday alone.

Earlier in December, a six-year-old girl waiting for a school bus said a coyote tried to bite her.

It sank its teeth into her snow pants before she and her sister managed to scare it off and ran home to safety.

A few days before that, a coyote killed a small dog in nearby Emerald Park and carried it off as the horrified owner watched.

It's not unusual for coyotes to nose around urban areas in search of food.

But people in and around White City said the animals seemed to be getting bolder and some had apparently lost their fear of humans.

Farmers were also concerned, saying coyotes posed a serious threat to their livestock.

Slack said the town would call in more hunters and trappers if the coyote problems continued.