Anyone who has watched one of Doug Ford's regular pandemic press conferences will be familiar with the Ontario premier's proclivity for weird dad sayings and accidental one-liners, and Friday morning's briefing was no different — though perhaps more entertaining than others in recent memory.

As Ford took to his lectern to update residents on the province's much-criticized COVID-19 vaccine rollout from an Etobicoke Shoppers Drug Mart around 9:30 a.m., he digressed following reporters' questions to talk about his animal lovin' little heart and share a personal encounter he'd had just hours before.

"Sometimes I tell personal stories and today's going to be a personal story, not about COVID," Ford started.

"I come walking out of the house this morning and there's a big coyote outside the house, but he was injured — badly injured in the back right leg, so he's kind of limping along. I thought ,'Boy, this thing's not gonna make it.'"

Doesn’t he have more to worry about?

— ANN DUFFY. 🇮🇪🇨🇦 (@ann_duffy) March 19, 2021

Clearly unable to get the wayward coyote off of his mind, even in the midst of an official statement on how the coronavirus immunization program is progressing across the province, Ford then took a moment to issue a call to media and the public to help track down and save the critter, who he revealed he had named Cody the Coyote.

"I'm not gonna have a dead coyote on my watch," he continued. "If you see him, we can get animal services and try to help this coyote and get him fixed up.... Sorry for the little animal story but I've got a big heart for animals. I can't let this coyote go out there and not be able to hunt."

I wish my life was a third as riveting as his. How does he contain all that excitement?!

— David Lussier (@d_a_f_f_y_d) March 19, 2021

Though extremely sweet, the aside was admittedly quite random, and is getting its fair share of attention on social media.

"How did these COVID-19 provincial updates turn into Doug Ford telling a story about an injured coyote in his yard...?" one citizen aptly wondered on Twitter.

Doug Ford, defender of the coyote.

— Jase Cole 🏳️‍🌈🦄 (@pawrapid) March 19, 2021

"How did he not know this was going to immediately invite 'What about the dead PEOPLE on your watch?!' What a buffoon," another added.

Others are wondering if some of Ford's more hilarious phrases were in fact inspired by a certain cartoon coyote: "I want to give big shout out to Wile E. Coyote. I would have never thought about firecrackers up someone’s ying yang without him," one person chimed.

But this is also Premier Doug, responsible for the lives of 14 million Ontario residents, but you can’t see or know ALL of them. They exist as a concept, but Doug can only relate to the ones he knows (Developers, businessmen, etc.) 2/

— Daniel Evans (@danevansfc) March 19, 2021

Though it was a harmless, inconsequential little anecdote that Ford decided to tell off-the-cuff, it's fair to say that the response has been a little more than serious, and understandably so as we continue to struggle through a global pandemic that many would argue the provincial government has not handled very well.