We have a coyote in the neighborhood
By spalladino
@spalladino (17891)
United States
April 27, 2009 10:48pm CST
Last night around midnight my daughter, who lives nextdoor, saw a coyote standing under the street light next to my driveway. He was large...definitely not a dog or a fox and facing our yard like he was about to come on in...so her fiance scared him away with the bb gun. Our lights were out or she would have called us. When he ran off he jumped over the fence surrounding the vacant and seriously overgrown property across the street. Beyond that are a few houses and acres upon acres of sugar cane fields and citrus groves.
We have two cats...my daughter has one. We also have dogs and little children so the last thing we want around here is a coyote. So, tonight we're staying up a little later than usual and keeping an eye out through the window in the spare bedroom, which is open with the screen up. Because of our vehicles we don't have a clear shot from the deck but we do from that window and my husband plans to shoot it if he sees it. I didn't learn about this until earlier this evening so tomorrow I'm also calling the county about that piece of property. It's been an eyesore as it is but now it's become a nice habitat for a dangerous predator. I'm an animal lover and I hate the thought of hurting or killing anything but I hate the thought of this thing ripping my 15 year old cat to shreds more.
I know that most of you don't live in the country but has anyone ever dealt with a coyote or something similar? The gators are bad enough but at least they more or less stay in the canals. This guy wasn't admiring our landscaping...he was on the hunt.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@tamron123 (276)
• United States
28 Apr 09
You have nothing to worry about unless he has rabies. Coyotes run in packs. He is probably old. The pack ran him off because he can't keep up. So he was probably looking for scraps. I raised one from a pup and she was the pack leader of 15 dogs. They have more teeth then a dog. When she went into heat I thought she would join the pack she never did and she would not bread with a dog. If you don't wont the coyote there make sure your garbage is sealed up.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
28 Apr 09
Yep, our cans have lids and everyone else in the neighborhood does that same because of the wild cats that roam about. If he's not old maybe he's a scout for the pack...I don't know but what I do know is that I don't want him taking up residence anywhere around here. So far he hasn't shown up tonight and it's getting close to 1:00AM. As I said, I'd rather not have to shoot him but if he comes onto my property I will. I have two cats outside somewhere...they won't stay in...and I'm not taking any chances with a wild animal.
@tamron123 (276)
• United States
28 Apr 09
Remember population has grown and you might be in his do main. respect him he will you.
@tamron123 (276)
• United States
28 Apr 09
Why does everybody see wild animals as a threat. In many ways they are social creaters that God created Think about this for a second your walking down the street not hurting nothing just walking maybe thursty hungry what ever all of a sudden someone shots at you because they think your a bumb and your going to steal from them and all you was trying to do is get home. just think about it.
@derlilaStern (1756)
• United States
2 May 09
We only ever had a fox or 2. Thankfully they only came out at night.
Im not sure if the problem has been resolved in these last couple of days or not, but perhaps you can just avoid it for now by knowing when it comes around. If it is only out at night, you can know that you are (mostly) safe out during the day.
Definitely scary, though. I hope things have gotten resolved since you posted this!
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
3 May 09
I haven't seen any sign of him and neither has my daughter so maybe he went on his way. I hope so.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
28 Apr 09
When I lived in Arizona, I was told that coyotes will avoid humans unless they have the power of the pack, a few coyotes with them to help them bring down something large. I don't you have to fear the poor thing but I would worry about children. Call animal control and see if they can relocate him.
It's really not fair to those poor animals--we push and push and keep pushing till they have no more hunting territory left then we murder them because they're killing our small pets. I wish developers would be more animal friendly but they never will.
I hope your cat will be safe. Don't let him out at night, especially.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
28 Apr 09
I talked to my daughter earlier and she said that he looked like a young, healthy coyote and that he was sniffing the air and looking around like he was trying to locate whatever scent he had picked up. That's why her fiance shot at him...their cat was out and so were both of mine.
I talked to Animal Control and they're worthless. The guy told me that the had no luck catching the wild cats who live in our area even after setting numerous traps...and that they don't work nights. I guess animals are only suppose to misbehave during banker's hours. 
I do feel compassion for animals who are pushed out of their natural habitats due to the growth of the human population but, again, there has been no development of the land out here. Right now the rabbits and other small critters who normally live in the cane fields are wherever they go after the cane is burned but they're around somewhere...and there's always the Everglades. I tried to keep the old cat in last night and she was constantly meowing so I blocked the steps going up to the deck and let her stay out there last night. She wasn't too happy about being "in prison" but it was the safest alternative.
I do feel compassion for animals who are pushed out of their natural habitats due to the growth of the human population but, again, there has been no development of the land out here. Right now the rabbits and other small critters who normally live in the cane fields are wherever they go after the cane is burned but they're around somewhere...and there's always the Everglades. I tried to keep the old cat in last night and she was constantly meowing so I blocked the steps going up to the deck and let her stay out there last night. She wasn't too happy about being "in prison" but it was the safest alternative.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
28 Apr 09
We had coyotes when I lived out West in the valley. We also had a 200 pound dog that was outside most of the time with it's brother that was the same size and we never had them close to the house but, we could hear the pack at night. When we lived in the mountains we would see them mostly in the day time after a big snow but again never by our house. Our neighbors seemed to have trouble with bears, we had a privacy fence and they didn't seem to bother with the fence. Isn't wildlife great? 
Currently we live in the actual city of Toledo and there is a red fox that lives in our backyard, we have about an acre of land and the back of our property has some downed trees and I think he lives in one of them. We decided to leave the trees since he runs when we stumble upon him. He is suppose to be very rare for city life.
Currently we live in the actual city of Toledo and there is a red fox that lives in our backyard, we have about an acre of land and the back of our property has some downed trees and I think he lives in one of them. We decided to leave the trees since he runs when we stumble upon him. He is suppose to be very rare for city life.@spalladino (17891)
• United States
28 Apr 09
We have foxes in the area, too, which I'm less concerned about because they're not nearly as large as this coyote so I doubt one would bother even the older cat. We also aren't overly concerned about the snakes that have a definite route from one canal to ours along the side of our property. The kids know to watch for them if they're walking around to the next block and to give them the right of way.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
28 Apr 09
Hey spalladino! Wow! That is really scary! I think that you
need to call someone to come and try to hunt for it before
someone does get hurt! You know how I feel about hurting animals,
but a wild coyote is nothing to play around with! You should
call some kind of animal control as soon as possible! You have
animals and children to worry about. You don't know if this
coyote is sick or what. You need to get some professional
hunters in to find this animal before it comes back!
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
28 Apr 09
Hi there Opal! I called Code Enforcement about that property this morning...the weeds are probably five feet high so maybe they can get after the owner to get those weeds cut. Animal Control down here is a joke. Unless it's a stray dog running through town they won't do anything. We had a six foot gater in our canal for over a week last summer and they refused to remove it unless it came up on the bank...so someone shot it. We have too many small children and pets living on both sides of the canal to have a big one in there.
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
19 Jun 09
Hello spalladino. I have never seen a coyote in real, but I have seen a wolf at the local zoo. Ever since I was a kid, I have read and heard many stories about wolves. It seems that they are very fierce animals that will bite and eat people. I feel scared of them. I guess that you may have the same feeling when the coyote appeared in the neighborhood.
My mother once told me a true story that happened to her elder sister, my aunt, when they were in their teens. One day my aunt was working in the field alone when a group of wolves came running over the field where my aunt was working. She was so scared that she used the shoulder pole to make as loud noise as she could to scare away the wolves and to her surprise, it worked. This way, my aunt saved herself. It was a remote country back then seven decades ago, but not now.
When thinking of this true story of my aunt's, I still feel so scared. My aunt is now in her eighties and she is now living together with her daughters and son, my dear cousins.
By the way, I hope that the coyote did not come to bother you later on. Take care, friend.
