Written by In Today’s Seattle Times there is an important warning about the local coyote population. Coyotes are kind of cute, in their wild-doggy sort of way, but many pet owners do not realize the threat these wild animals pose to their cats in particular. Cats that have been raised with dogs are actually in the most danger, as they have generally become accustomed to the behaviors of domestic dogs and are taken completely by surprise when a meandering coyote suddenly charges and lunges at them on your street after dark.
Renton’s coyote population is rising, and many of my residents have noted that Renton sounds like the Arizona prairies on some evenings after dark. Howooooooo……
You can spot areas in Renton with high coyote populations simply by looking at the telephone poles….the more signs you see for lost kitty’s, the more coyotes there are. Raccoons also are a threat to cats, but they are less likely to attack them, and when they do they will leave the body for the very sad family to find. Coyotes, on the other hand, take the body back to their den, and leave their grieving owner posting reward signs for their lost kittys….too sad.
Renton animal control has come across dens with the remains of up to 50 kitty-cats, sometimes with collars and tags in the mix!
What can you do?
First, please do not hurt or harass the coyotes. This may get you in legal danger and physical danger.
Here is a list of steps from today’s Seattle Times…
To keep coyotes away
.. Keep pet food and water inside.
.. Keep cats inside.
.. Keep wild bird seed elevated and in feeders designed for birds, and clean up spilled seed from the ground; coyotes can either be drawn directly to the seed, or to rodents drawn to the seed.
.. Keep fruit trees fenced or pick up fruit that falls to the ground.
.. Minimize vegetation near children’s play areas to avoid attracting rodents and small mammals that will in turn attract coyotes. Keep clusters of shrubs, trees and other cover and food plants away from buildings and children’s play areas.
Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
And here is the Complete Article…..
Saturday, October 28, 2006 – Page updated at 12:18 AM
Pets vanish as Seattle’s coyote sightings increase
By Tan Vinh
Seattle Times staff reporter
Coyotes’ local habitat is shrinking.
At first, the stories sounded like playground lore .. coyotes snatching house cats around Beacon Hill neighborhoods in the middle of the night.
But then Tub, Teenie and other felines weren’t coming home at night. More than the usual number of fliers about missing tabby and Siamese cats began showing up on utility poles and community bulletin boards.
By summer, reports of sightings were becoming frequent on community e-mail listserves and at neighborhood crime-watch meetings in this South Seattle community.
In late July, resident Tina Miller said, two coyotes mauled and killed the family’s beloved 3-year-old cat in her backyard. Two weeks later, Miller said, her son saw a coyote trying to snatch a stray cat near her house.
“It was traumatizing,” Miller said. “We had no idea there was such a big problem with coyotes.”
While coyotes have been spotted in recent years in a few neighborhoods, the Seattle Animal Shelter and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said reported sightings have increased dramatically this year and are coming from more neighborhoods than ever before.
To keep coyotes away
.. Keep pet food and water inside.
.. Keep cats inside.
.. Keep wild bird seed elevated and in feeders designed for birds, and clean up spilled seed from the ground; coyotes can either be drawn directly to the seed, or to rodents drawn to the seed.
.. Keep fruit trees fenced or pick up fruit that falls to the ground.
.. Minimize vegetation near children’s play areas to avoid attracting rodents and small mammals that will in turn attract coyotes. Keep clusters of shrubs, trees and other cover and food plants away from buildings and children’s play areas.
Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Officials said the coyotes typically have been sighted at night or in the early morning, often near parks or wooded areas in such Seattle neighborhoods as Beacon Hill, West Seattle, Magnolia and Laurelhurst. They also have been seen in rural areas of King County, as well as in parts of Snohomish County.
This year, the wildlife department is receiving about 30 to 50 reports a day of coyote sightings in Western Washington, double what it received last year.
Wildlife and animal-control officials attribute much of the cause to housing developments in the outskirts of King County that have encroached on coyote habitat and displaced the coyotes. The animals then roam into neighborhoods through city parks, golf courses and greenbelts.
Officials say the high number of reports doesn’t necessarily mean a large number of coyotes are prowling urban streets. In some cases, residents may be seeing .. and reporting .. the same coyote.
Still, “we have to recognize that coyotes are a fact of life in Washington state,” said Capt. Bill Hebner of the wildlife department. “We continue to see extensive development. We continue to intrude on these wildlife areas.
“And we have all kinds of greenbelts that lead to a city.”
About the coyote
The coyote is a member of the dog family. The scientific name is Canis latrans, which means “barking dog.” In size and shape, it looks like a small German shepherd, but has a shorter, bushier tail.
Weight: 20-50 pounds.
Numbers: At least 50,000 are estimated to live in Washington.
Color: Varies from shades of black, brown and gray to yellow and white, sometimes with a reddish tint.
Lifespan: 15 years in the wild.
Mating season: January-March. Coyotes can breed with domestic dogs and wolves. A dog-coyote mix is called a “coydog.”
Geography: Found throughout North America and south through Mexico to Panama.
Typical diet: Small mammals, insects, reptiles, fruit and carrion. In urban areas, coyotes sometimes eat pet food, garbage or garden crops.
Curious fact: A coyote can run nearly 40 mph and can get over an 8-foot-high fence.
Sources: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, desertusa.com
Coyote bit 2 children
Fish and wildlife officials say Washington state has about 50,000 coyotes. The animals are nocturnal, stand about knee-high, weigh some 30 pounds and are mangy-looking.
They eat berries and vegetation, as well as raccoons, squirrels, rabbits and .. as they get closer to populated areas .. cats and small dogs.
On Beacon Hill, some pet owners fret because wildlife officials won’t trap or shoot coyotes unless they are a threat to humans.
In April, a coyote bit a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old in separate incidents in the Eastgate area of Bellevue, wildlife agents reported. State wildlife agents later shot the coyote.
It’s absurd that a coyote has to attack or threaten a person before wildlife agents hunt it down, said Miller, the Seattle resident. If coyotes are “out there attacking pets and running around the neighborhood, that should be enough,” she said.
Wildlife agents said it’s rare for coyotes to attack humans, but in the Bellevue case the coyote had lost its fear of humans, perhaps because people fed it.
Don Jordan, executive director of the Seattle Animal Shelter, agrees.
“Generally, coyotes are more afraid of humans than we are of them. But because of the environment that humans create by leaving out dog food, cat food, not securing garbage cans … we are creating a perfect habitat to sustain coyotes in an urban environment.”
Coyote connection
On Beacon Hill, one of the earliest attacks occurred last fall when, according to Kathryn Rathke, a coyote entered her backyard and snatched two chickens from their pen, leaving a trail of white feathers and mutilated remains.
A few weeks later, Rathke said, her 15-year-old cat didn’t come home.
She didn’t make the coyote connection until neighbors reported seeing coyotes around and pet owners started posting signs about their missing cats.
Seattle Animal Shelter often gets a rise in missing-cat reports after a coyote sighting, and officials suspect that in most of those cases, coyotes ate the pets.
Beacon Hill resident Ben Dugan, who arrived home one evening to find a coyote in his driveway, said that when he sees a missing-pet flier in the neighborhood now, “I think, well … hopefully the coyotes didn’t get to them.”
The coyotes have grown in numbers since we moved here in 2005. Just this morning I was in my backyard and the noise they were making was incredible. We have a ravine that runs behind our fence. In the spring they howl and make screaming noises so loud it’s eerie and frightening. They almost sound like someone is hurting them but I found that isn’t the case. A security person said that is just a noise they make. He was familiar with them. I see them running down our street in the early morning and near a pond and park nearby. There have been times when I walked our dog in the park and I could see what is left of someone’s pet. They use to run through our yard along with deer and a bobcat before we put a fence up. Really amazing since we live in Fairwood Greens a well established area since the 60’s.
We still keep a close eye on our dog when he is out. A fence won’t stop any of the three I mentioned. What is sad is there have been many pets gone missing in our neighborhood. We even had a small dog being walked on a leash attacked by a coyote on a wooded trail nearby. The poor woman ran past our house carrying her bleeding dog. I would only ask they maybe check on the population and if necessary relocate them to a more remote area.
I do not wish that any harm come to them but we need to protect our pet community too.
Sincerely Jo Davies
Almost every night I hear a coyote howling because they found something.