Coyotes make their presence known in the Valley
Published 10:24 am Thursday, October 2, 2008
When Patrick Day was in first grade, he saw something that will stay in his mind forever.
While waiting with his mother Kate at a bus stop to go to school at North Bend Elementary, Patrick, now a seventh-grader living in New Hampshire with his family, said he saw his first and only coyote.
“The coyote ran across the street with a cat in his mouth and he just dropped it in the middle of the road and ran off,” he recalled. “I thought it was weird because I had never seen a coyote before.”
His mother thought maybe the dismembered cat might still be alive, but when she got close enough, she saw that it was missing its head.
“I was horrified to think that a coyote had just run right by these children in broad daylight,” Kate said. “You think of those things happening in the dark of night.”
After that, she said that the family was careful to keep its cat inside and she made sure to keep a close eye on the children who waited at the bus stop.
Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife district biologist Russell Link said that while the state department does receive reports about missing animals that are presumed to have been attacked by coyotes, it does not keep statistics on the local coyote population, though it is estimated that about 50,000 live in Washington state.
Link said he hasn’t really seen any notable changes in the coyote population or behavior in at least 12 years, so the state hasn’t done much work with studying them.
“In this part of the world, they’re still relatively afraid of people and very wary of them generally,” he said, noting that most only come out at night and that once they find an easy food source, they will visit it repeatedly.
Last Tuesday, a coyote nipped at two children in Bellevue; an animal believed to be the same one was shot and killed on Friday by State Department of Fish and Wildlife agencts. The animal’s carcass was in too poor of a condition for rabies testing, authorities said. There has never been a confirmed case of rabies in coyotes in Washington, but the there have been national reports.
Local animal control said that they do not respond to non-domestic animal calls.
Early April to the end of May signifies the time when the coyote pups are ready to start exploring, Link noted, so mothers may be extra aggressive to protect their young and the inexperienced pups may find themselves still learning the ropes of animal behavior and hunting.
Always be cautious, Link advised those who live in areas where coyotes may be located.
President of the Si View Homeowners Association in North Bend, Scott Laufer, who has seen them on various local trails, noted that he receives complaints about missing animals on a semi-regular basis.
“I think the coyotes are just being coyotes and they’ll look for food in the easiest way they can,” Laufer said. “I feel horrible that families have lost their pets, but I figure that we need to learn to live together.”
North Bend resident Dean Frances said that they are not a problem for him. But for his neighbor, Patty Weber, who raises chickens, coyotes are a menace.
“They’re not just hard on the chickens, you’ll see missing dog posters,” Frances said. “That’s where they go, the coyotes get them, but it’s a risk you take.”
“Basically, if you have chickens, you have coyotes,” Weber said, noting that she has lost more than 40 chickens from her chicken coop since last year to what she thinks are coyotes; she now has three left.
Native to the western and southern areas of the United States, coyotes have migrated to almost every area of North and Central America. The pack animals, known for their intelligence and scavenger appetites, are only about 25 inches tall and weigh 20-35 pounds in adulthood.
They typically eat carcasses and small animals such as cats and mice, as well as berries, grass, fish and just about anything else including garbage, garden crops and more. They have also been known to attack domestic dogs. Coyotes typically hunt and live about four years in the wild, 18 years in captivity.
Link advises people to never approach a coyote or coyote den, to keep pets indoors or confined, keep garbage and compost piles secured, remove pet food and water from outside and not to feed coyotes or feral cats.
If a coyote approaches, pick up small children and act aggressively by making loud noises.
“Keep them afraid of humans,” Link said. “I think that the trend is that coyotes are seemingly coming into urban areas. And I would suspect that [a cause of that is] when people begin to feed them and begin to stop viewing them as wild animals.”
For more information about coyotes, visit www.wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/coyotes.htm.
