About two years ago, coyotes started to become a frequent sighting in Seward Park, and cats started disappearing from the surrounding neighborhood. I saw the “lost cat” posters popping up on nearby telephone poles, and heard the grisly stories of mangled cat parts found scattered through nearby yards, but living almost a mile from the park and just couple blocks up the hill from busy Rainier Avenue, I didn’t pay it that much attention… until our cat nearly fell victim to an apparent coyote attack.
Shortly thereafter a coyote casually crossed our path less than fifty feet ahead of us on a trail in Seward Park, in the middle of the day. And only about six months ago, I drove up to my house around dusk, just in time to see a coyote stroll out of my yard and down the sidewalk. (Fortunately, our cat was safely indoors at the time.) Meanwhile, lost kitty posters continue to be a mainstay on neighborhood telephone polls, along with the occasional flyer bemoaning a missing small dog.
When neighbors have called animal control to complain about the perceived threat (real threat, if you’re a cat), they’ve generally gotten the same muted response. Coyotes are part of a natural, healthy, urban landscape, and the city has no plans to trap or kill them. We should celebrate their beauty… and keep our cats safely indoors.
So I was a bit surprised to read that authorities have decided to hunt and kill the coyotes that have recently been making the news in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood:
The state has identified two problem coyotes. “We’ve had some unsettling reports of aggression,” he said. “There’s been lost pets, small dogs and cats, and this has caused us some concern.”
Uh-huh. So why is it that lost pets in Magnolia are such a concern to local officials, yet lost pets in Southeast Seattle are not? What… my cat’s life isn’t as valuable as the life of a Magnolia cat? Is it because of where we live? Is it because he’s black?
Southeast Seattle residents have long complained about getting the short end of the stick when it comes to city services compared to our North end counterparts, and this sort of double-standard doesn’t help. I’ve closely followed the coyote reports coming out of Magnolia, and they’re no different from what’s going on down here. Small pets fall prey to the Seward Park coyotes on a regular basis, and I can testify from my personal encounters that the coyotes showed little fear at my presence. Yet for some reason the Magnolia complaints seem to be taken more seriously.
Personally, I agree with the advice we’ve received from animal control. The coyotes are beautiful to watch, and I take great pleasure in seeing wildlife thrive within such an urban setting. We’re a lot more careful with our cat these days, who no longer spends the nights prowling outdoors… though that probably has more to do with his own changing 11-year-old habits than with our discipline. The coyotes have also performed a notable service, effectively controlling a rabbit population in Seward Park that had threatened to grow out of control without predation.
If city or state authorities proposed trapping and relocating the Seward Park coyotes, I doubt there’d be much opposition from local residents, but hunting and killing them? That just seems a bit extreme, considering the minimal level of threat they pose. Fortunately, I doubt it will come to that, as clearly, our concerns aren’t taken nearly as seriously as those of Magnolia and other North end neighborhoods.
UPDATE:
One of the Magnolia coyotes was trapped and killed this morning on BNSF property.
He said the coyote was caught in a leg trap about 5 a.m. today and was euthanized with a shot to the head.
Caught in a leg trap and then shot in the head. How humane.
FYI, this is what a dead, snared coyote looks like:
And this is what that coyote looked like back when it was puppy.
This is when you take your pistol outside and crank off a few rounds in the general direction of the coyote when he shows his face near your house.
anyone who lets their cat out to kill birds deserves to be coyote lunch. hunting coyotes should only be done if the meat is to be served in the state or city cafeterias.
Speaking of cats…how about that cat who used to belong to Phillips of Oracle??
Now there is a mean ass cat!
Goldy, an alternative view, maybe leave the Coyotes alone, since the do do some amount of cleaning up around the edges. Us (some) that live on the fringe (i.e., outskirts or “edge”) understand the role of the Coyotes in our ecosystems. I love pets, but understand that Coyotes do too and so we take measures to manage our pets safety. Poor Coyotes are so misunderstood.
Just a thought.
S
Domestic cats kill millions of birds each year, many of them endangered.
Coyotes are useful for keeping cat (mostly feral) and bunny populations down.
Skykomishone @4,
Obviously, I agree with you. Despite our cat’s near tragic run-in with a coyote, I’d prefer to manage coexistence.
Jason @5,
True, though in defense of our Wompus, during his youth his was primarily a mouser (well, a ratter) not a birder. Once we got rid of our backyard bird feeder, he stopped leaving us birds by the backdoor. The rats he killed though, that was a real service. There’s nothing quite so disturbing as having your daughter out picking raspberries, only to come face to face with a rat doing the the same.
He did, though, once catch a crow, prompting a murder to mob him until he let go. The rest of the afternoon, the crows surrounded our house, occasionally divebombing him.
The difference might be this:
There could be a difference between the general policy when it come to ‘yotes and the policy towards “problem” ones, ones that rather than running off when spotted will stand their ground or will come onto decks to attack animals.
Goldy @ 6
I doubt we’d have developed civilization without cats.
Having battled rats and squirrels, I’ve considered getting a cat.
I’m not anti-cat so much as I’m pro-bird, until such time a balance is restored.
Michael @ 7
Once we have a coyote problem, we can bring in cougars to mitigate ’em.
(Kidding!)
@9
I hear cougars help keep the yuppie jogger population in check as well.
We used to get the occasional black bear in our raspberry patch (I’m in Gig Harbor). The bears never bothered me beyond the mess they tended to make of the vines, but we haven’t seen any bears for a few years now.
@11
Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?
My parents live in a nice town on the peninsula that has had coyotes in town for years (they also have a thriving deer population). There are still plenty of outdoor cats, the smart ones survive.
“Southeast Seattle residents have long complained about getting the short end of the stick when it comes to city services compared to our North end counterparts”
Yeah, I had that problem too when I lived in south Seattle, so I solved it by moving to north Seattle.
Plus, our social, economic, and political system screws the working class and coddles the owning class, so I quit my job and became a capitalist.
Ya gotta go with the flow, Goldy, because ya can’t push back the ocean all by yourself. Now, I flip stocks instead of holding down a job, and I’m useless instead of productive — and it’s working out just great! I’m better off than I ever was back when I still believed the “work hard to succeed” bullshit the owning class foisted off on the working class. The only thing “hard work” gets you is the maximum tax rate.
@7 addendum…
The parks and wildlife folks might (probably) have more data than just the public complaints that their working with.
I’m not saying that they’re not saying they’re not playing favorites, I’m just saying that there might be more to it than meets the casual eye.
Coyotes will also get rid of those pesky moles for you.
@1 Go right ahead, the municipal court system needs the revenue.
@5 I don’t mind a few bunny losses. I can always make more. It’s what I’m good at.
@6 Cats give “birding” a whole new meaning.
@11 re @1: With him, it’s pretty much every day. I once shared a rooming house with a guy who slept with a pistol under his pillow. But then, he was a former Marine who had just come back from Nam, and he was nuts.
Tsunami Or Trickle?
In response to yesterday’s SCOTUS ruling, 40 CEOs of companies ranging from Delta Airlines to Ben & Jerry’s “sent a letter to congressional leaders Friday urging them to approve public financing for House and Senate campaigns. They say they are tired of getting fundraising calls from lawmakers — and fear it will only get worse after Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.”
So, how about that? Corporate America, after winning the right to political free speech in the GOP-controlled Supreme Court, want taxpayrs to pay for campaigns.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/ar.....for/869202
Cats (and small dogs) are fast food for eagles where I live.
I heard the Dept of wildlife guy on the radio and THESE coyotes have apparently lost their fear of humans which is in fact dangerous. One of them attacked a small dog at it was being walked out a front door on a leash….this is on a front porch. In Eastgate a few years back there were children being attacked by a coyote….that’s what it escalates to. People need to quit putting food out for critters to get to. Where I live (sticks) I have lost ALL my cats to predation. I tolerate it but now without cats I again have a rodent problem. I loved my cats and miss them but it is the wild out there.
I walked out the front door one day and met a bear heading up to my front door. Not only is it rather startling but maddening as well. There is only one reason a bear goes up on a front porch. It knows people put food on porches (like my neighbor for his cat). That pisses me off. I do not need my place trashed by a bear looking for food and nobody wants to get attacked by a pissed off bear.
@14
welcom3 to typo week!
We have had problem coyotes near our place.
The solution was quite easy….may they R.I.P.!!
BTW, coyote hides can look really great on your wall. We have a couple. The mangy ones are left to rot out in the field or woods.
It’s simple.
Who gives a shit about a pet killing coyote? The only thing I regret is that it did not meet an early demise much sooner!
Perhaps Goldy should put pictures of infants born after botched abortions about 6 months outside the womb and then compare that with a full term fetus that has been aborted. Hmmm
But, alas, that would be way to consistent for any liberal to cognitively process. Cognitive dissonance is another way of saying “Progressive”
I’ve been trying to work out a “Cats marching on Selma” joke all afternoon but can only come up with something worthy of a Leno monologue. Lame…
Must be talking about the back-alley days pre-Roe V. Wade eh reading comprehension impaired?
@9 Jason Osgood
LOL. I was going to respond with “get a bigger cat”, balance the ecosystem.
If and when we need Cougars in the city we can import many of them from Eastern Oregon. Apparently they no longer are able to hunt Cougars with dogs and the population has mushroomed, threatening the Elk populations. So my friends from Eastern Oregon say.
To the other people who point that feeding the wild life is bad. I agree absolutely. In Eastern Oregon I know some people who like to feed their deer in their front yards. The whole thing starts to spiral out of control and the Cougars come into to town following the deer. Only a matter of time before a child is snatched away.
@22 It’s your own goddam fault for squatting in their territory. Your house has no damn business being in their habitat!
@24 Yeah, you seem like the type who would shoot a varmint rifle in Magnolia.
@26 Let’s post photos of Bush’s torture victims, too.
Thanks Roger (30). BTW, my late cat Fidget (AKA The Great Black Hunter) loved rabbits. I presume you are squatting in their territory too like the Woodland Park bunnies.
If you’re going to comment on something, the least you can do is put all 12 years of your limited schooling to work and have it make at least a modicum of sense. Did you even make it out the door of the house today, YLB? Fuckin’ loser doesn’t even beging to decribe lay abouts like yourself. You’re nearly too fucking worthless to even acknowledge at all except to point out that you’re intaking valuable oxygen and contributing nothing in return.
@22 “People need to quit putting food out for critters to get to”
It turns out that’s what my neighbor was doing last winter when we had a coyote hanging out here for several months. I finally dealt with the situation when I caught the fucker shitting out another neighbor’s cat on my drive. I introduced him to my friend, Mr. Detonics .451. I really hated doing it, he was only hungry, but he wasn’t going away and sometimes you just have to do something about a problem like that, no matter how distasteful.
But he was a baptized Mormon coyote so, unlike Puddy, who is a 7th Day Adventist cult member following the teachings of the failed prophet, Ellen White, my coyote will go to Heaven along with the likes of Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck. Just think, Puddy, that coyote just might end up on the same planet that your Mormon hero Glenn Beck will be ruling as a God! Maybe you’ll be there too someday. Oh, wait, you can’t go to Heaven because you’re not a Mormon. Hmm, maybe the LDS Baptism of the Dead will bail you out of this fix. Funny beliefs, those Mormons like Glenn and Mitt, huh, Puddy?
Just fucking with you, Puddy. I’m sure you’ll go to Heaven.
@33 I have my own territory, and any hare who tries to fuck one of my cute fluffy female bunnies is gonna wish he’d met a coyote instead.
@34 “Did you even make it out the door of the house today, YLB? Fuckin’ loser doesn’t even beging to decribe lay abouts like yourself. You’re nearly too fucking worthless to even acknowledge at all except to point out that you’re intaking valuable oxygen and contributing nothing in return.”
Sounds like you’re describing capitalists! I’m a capitalist! I don’t work, I’m useless, I contribute nothing to the economy, and the system rewards this by showering me with profits and tax breaks! Sure beats working for nothing! The only thing working gets you is a rich boss.
@34 So you want to return to the days of back-alley, coathanger abortions, huh? No surprise there, Little RickyD. Just more evidence of the hatred for anything good and decent that rages inside your sorry self. Does it suck for you to be consumed by hate? Or do you get off on it?
Thank you, Wunderlick, for informing us of the lives that have no value.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, bro.
@26
Yes, women making decisions regarding their little fetus parasites is EXACTLY the same as wilderness past control. I am totally fascinated by GOP logic.
I thought we banned leg-hold traps in this state???
Leg-hold trap and a .22 to the head is probably more humane than death by starvation or by a pack semi-feral dogs.
34 – Awwww. Poor little Ricky still smarting from when I handed his ass to him..
He can’t read for beans..
let’s see, goldstien posts a picture of a dead mangled coyote and feels sadness, but has he ever posted a picture of an unborn baby after its brains were sucked out?
and the worst part is, most of you agree with goldstien.
You were cute too Goldy, when you were a puppy. Now look at you!
mark–
Now that there is funny…I don’t care who y’ar! So is this…The Day ObamaCare Died
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpevc2t_Frw
Looks like that coyote was well into chewing its own foreleg off trying to escape the trap by the time the gendarme put it out of its misery.
@45
Universal healthcare, in one form or another, is coming. Businesses can’t afford the system that we have now.
How many cat ID microchips did the coyote have in its stomach?