Keep your pets inside - the coyotes are active

This coyote killed Jennifer Dodd's dog in its backyard,
then lay there for two hours before leaving.

By Diane Hettrick

I've been hearing reports of coyote sighting for the past month.

As you may know, they are no longer afraid of humans, and are comfortable being out in daytime.

This is the time of year when the juveniles leave the den and find their own territory.

In the past few days, a pet cat was killed by a coyote at a condo at the head of Echo Lake, and a pet dog was killed in its backyard in Ridgecrest.

The cat would have been killed for food, and the dog most typically would have been killed in a territorial dispute.

The best thing to do is to keep your pets indoors. The times they are most vulnerable outside are night and early morning - but these pets were killed during daytime.

My personal observation is that cats with friendly and trusting personalities are most vulnerable, as are aging cats.

Animal Control does not deal with coyotes. Neither do the police.

If a coyote attacks a human, or if there is indication that two or more are hunting as a pack, then the State Fish and Wildlife would kill them as a matter of policy. Incidentally, Wildlife officers believe that coyotes that attack humans have been fed by other humans.

A few years ago in Lake Forest Park, a pack of three or four coyotes killed a sheep in someone's yard. For the next two weeks there were Fish and Wildlife sharpshooters with high powered rifles hunting and killing coyotes in people's back yards at night.

If you see a coyote in daytime, the suggestion is to make a lot of noise, and do everything you can to appear big and dangerous. PAWS suggests a soft drink can with about three inches of gravel or small rocks. Used as a shaker, it's very, very noisy. The Wildlife website suggests a home made clacker.

There's a lot of good information at Fish and Wildlife. Try this article..