Urban coyote attacks on rise, alarming residents

Urban coyote attacks on rise, alarming residents

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DENVER - A coyote ambling into a Chicago sandwich shop or taking up residence in New York's Central Park understandably creates a stir. But even here on the high plains of Colorado, where the animals are part of the landscape and figure prominently in Western lore, people are being taken aback by rising coyote encounters.

Thanks to suburban sprawl and a growth in numbers of both people and animals, a rash of coyote encounters has alarmed residents.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well I suppose urban sprawl could have something to do with it, but why now all of a sudden? I'm not one to spout Bible prophesy but having the animal kingdom turn on humans like this, borders on the supernatural or at least warrants a "high strangeness" designation. Is this what the future holds in store? I see coyotes almost everyday in my village; people know not to let their cats and small dogs run loose but now will folks be concerned about their own safety?

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(visit the link for the full news article)

I live in a rural area. I am a cattleman. We have a horrible problem with coyotes. Part of the problem is many people who used to predator hunt have passed on or gotten to old to hunt these vermin.

Moreover, our younger generation, due in no small part to the pressure of animal rights advocates, have stopped hunting all together. Therefore they have no predator thinning their ranks.

This is the danger in anthropomorphizing animals and the continued attacks against the hunting culture in the US.

I live in that area....and we are always getting warnings of coyotes and walking dogs, etc etc. I see one almost every day wandering around.

In the Denver area they are building so much and I think urban sprawl is the problem. Coyotes are loosing their natural habitat!

Other then that, I have no clue why it seems to be happening more and more.

[edit on 3/29/2009 by greeneyedleo]

whoa
coyotes aren't a joke man

so tell me, what do you do if you are in a coyote encounter?
im assuming you don't run as they will outrun you in seconds

so what do u do?
defend urself?

Here's sad but true story...
My aunt and uncle lived out near Seattle washington, about 20 years ago. My aunt had told me a while back, here visitng, one day, a woman and her baby were outside..her baby in a babypusher...a newborn. All of the sudden, a coyote came out of the wooded mountain area, into the rural street and snatched the newborn up and ran off fast back into the woods with it...
Turns out, its less than fairly common, but does happen.

it's the same with the wolves up here.
they are more sightings than ever.
not one for biblical prophesy, but i'm in favor of displays of higher consciousness and awareness in animals.

Note:
When the Wolf population increases the Coyote population decreases.

I live in Michigan. Our property butts against State Game Land.
During the mid 1990's the DNR made the decision to introduce 24 pair
of Coyote into a 6 mile area surrounding an Edison Power Plant.

The decision to do this, was based on the fact that the Whitetail Deer population in the surrounding protected property of said power plant was out of control. With the intent that packs of Coyote would
help bring down the Deer over population, as no Hunting is permitted on said property. (Corn and Soy
Bean are grown on the property to feed the deer.)

In the 60’s and 70’s the deer in this southern Michigan area (St. Clair County) was rare. Urban sprawl has driven the population to an out standing 12,000 to 14,000 Deer in a 485sq. mile radius in the Northern rural half of this County

(This county also includes several water access sites, 2 state parks, 1 mini game area, and 2 major wildlife areas (Port Huron State Game Area and St. Clair Flats Wildlife Area) that total over 15,000 acres.)

As result of this blunder, there was a population explosion of Coyote.
This idiotic move by the DNR has created an over population of Coyote. Coyote were relatively
unknown in this area until this form of control was implemented. Now Coyotes are everywhere.

Two years ago there was talk of bringing in Wolves to lessen the population of the Coyotes.

What will be used to control the Wolf population ?? Cougar ??

I don’t know if Wolves were implemented or not but I swear I heard a Wolf the other night.

Three weeks ago I could hear three different Coyote packs.
One pack was about 150 yards from My home.
The packs sound large.

reply to post by traderjack


they're not vermin - and they're just trying to get by like everyone else

Therefore they have no predator thinning their ranks.

this part is true

This is the danger in anthropomorphizing animals and the continued attacks against the hunting culture in the US.

this part not so much

reply to post by whaaa


I know water is part of the issue here in Denver and the surrounding areas -

there's been a lot of wildlife following the streams in that run through the city and burbs - we've been getting deer coming through as well - which I don't remember happening in the past

makes sense the coyotes would follow - it's just a case of sprawl forcing them to adapt

I have a friend who turned to see a coyote stalking his cat (about two years ago - so this isn't as all of a sudden as it sounds) in the heart of Denver - not even on the edges

I see fox frequently - raccoons, horned owls, red tails - all within the city limits - nature lives wherever it works

problem is - in addition to everything else - people have been feeding them (the coyotes)

and in many of the actual confrontations - dogs are the ones that start it - not the coyotes :-)

unless it's a very small dog - which is likely to get carried off if they get a chance

we've had a few run ins with mountain lions in the Boulder area - and many bear encounters as well in the foothills - they're getting closer and closer to some of the more urban suburbs -

where are they supposed to go is the real problem

frankly - because of the water - parks and gardens - we have rodents galore - rabbits, squirrels...it's coyote and fox heaven as far as actual hunting goes

edit to add:

seriously people - and you know who you are - keep your frigging dogs on a leash

you're in the city - there's a leash law - and if your dog gets attacked by coyotes - because it's running loose - you've got no one to blame but yourself

because - that is exactly how most of these stories go - but nobody seems to want to address that part of the issue

[edit on 4/21/2009 by Spiramirabilis]

traderjack brought some great points.

with any animal when we go into their territory they dont like it so much. as for the sudden increase who knows maby some new construction crossed the line, the animals feel the slightest bit of pressure and react to it, they dont reason like us. all they know is surviving is a good thing, so they do it the best way they know how. coyotes are preditors so how do they survive?

The decision to do this, was based on the fact that the Whitetail Deer population in the surrounding protected property of said power plant was out of control. With the intent that packs of Coyote would help bring down the Deer over population, as no Hunting is permitted on said property. (Corn and Soy Bean are grown on the property to feed the deer.)

they actually grow food on the property specifically for the deer? Or the deer are just attracted to it?

because - that's just dumber than dumb - and actually cruel - to encourage something you're going to end up having to cull anyway

Two years ago there was talk of bringing in Wolves to lessen the population of the Coyotes.

they should have gone with wolves in the first place

drives me crazy - between public opinion and wildlife management some of the decisions made -

several years ago there was a huge outcry against a bear hunt in the east - because the numbers were out of control and they were moving into the burbs - like everywhere

many of the same people outraged by the hunt were living in houses which were previously wild - and bear territory

duh

I hate hearing about this kind of solution as much as anyone - but the bottom line is - one bear needs a certain amount of territory to support itself

there just isn't enough room for too many bears - so they'll fight each other, or starve - or get shot anyhow for raiding trash cans

same with deer - people are against hunting - never realizing - starvation and disease are the results of over population - both slower and more painful than getting shot

nature achieves a balance - we're always mucking it up, complaining about how badly we muck it up - then muck it up some more trying to fix previous muckups

gets old

reply to post by ModernAcademia


I live in the same general area as the OP and haven't ever heard of a coyote attack on a person. There is a large pack that considers my very rural house as part of their roaming/hunting grounds. I don't worry too much about my children playing outside, especially in the daytime. There was one night when we got home that the coyotes were close enough to be somewhat unnerving but they didn't exhibit behavior that was threatening either. My parents used to tell a story about how their dogs used to seem to play with a local pack of coyotes, chasing each other around haystacks and such, but never fighting. I believe the occasional migrating mountain lion or bear is much more of a hazard. There are even reports of a cranky white haired Bigfoot in the area, I'm not saying that he would be dangerous (or asserting that he exists), I just used the opportunity to throw that in.

There was a coyote a couple years ago that would come around my parent's house often in the middle of the day and didn't seem to be very afraid of people at all. Yelling at him just made him look at us funny. This was unusual and unprecedented behavior, for the local population at least. I did wind up shooting at that one because his strange behavior had me concerned about my kids. Not sure whether I hit him or not, but he stopped coming by.

Although I do have a problem with keeping cats around here and continually try to improve the exposed environment here so they have a better chance of survival. The latest improvement is a pet door to the crawl space under the house. I am allergic to cat dander and don't like litter box maintenance at all, inside kitties aren't an option for me but I want cats to keep the mouse population down (coyotes help curtail mouse populations too). The next thing I am going to do is build an enclosure around my deck so I can put the cats in for the night and lock the door so they don't get nailed by predators at night. I suspect that owls may be responsible for at least some of my nighttime kitty disappearances as well.

I did some additional research and there are quite a few coyote attacks on kids and they seem to be on the rise of late. coyote attack link I'm not an expert on rabies so I ask this, if two animals have advanced rabies do they still pack up and hunt together?

Now that my dog has been missing for a couple weeks I guess had better get on finding a new one (he was really old and almost completely blind, not sure what happened to him ). Anyone local to the San Luis Valley know of any puppies with some rottweiler in them?

In several of the articles I read, the suggestion was yelling and throwing sticks, rocks or whatever at them. If you were ever to accidentally corner one, don't throw stuff just slowly back away, don't turn your back or run, just like with a cranky dog. Running is probably a bad idea because it could provoke their natural reaction to chase. I think in most cases they really don't want to tangle with a human and respect us, but if you were ever unfortunate enough to encounter one with rabies it could be very unpredictable. If I ran into that case I still see the best option as standing my ground and appearing as threatening as possible.

This is not just about urban sprawl, these animals are returning to areas once abandoned decades ago. Here in NJ we've had a few attacks in recent years, usually they go for small children or dogs, I know a boy was mauled a few years ago and also a baby bitten. Coyotes will eat anything they think is weaker than they are, anything is game including your child.

That is where the high strangeness comes into play. Like I said, I have lived 35 years in the country, in coyote central and they have never attacked a person here. I was really surprised to read all of the attack artilces.

When people start reporting that their faithful companions start attacking them on a regualr basis is when I hit the "panic button."