West Seattle Blog…

27 Comments

1. Love the “outlaw quadrupeds” link!

   Comment by heylady — 7:17 am November 14, 2011 #

2. Not this past Friday but the Friday before last heading home up 42nd Ave SW in Fauntlee Hills. My husband and I saw a very fast moving coyote with a cat in his mouth heading down hill to cross SW Barton.

   Comment by Lfauntleroy — 8:58 am November 14, 2011 #

3. Does anyone know if the increase of coyotes results in rodent problems due to lack of cats?

   Comment by tk — 10:19 am November 14, 2011 #

4. We just lost our beloved cat to coyotes recently. They (coyotes) are not native to WA and are not endangered, plus they kill everything in sight
   (West Seattle golf course foxes, Longfellow creek beavers, cats, smalll dogs, etc)

   When is the city going to do something??? This is a safety problem!!

   Comment by A J R — 11:32 am November 14, 2011 #

5. tk- coyotes eat rats and rodents:

   http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/coyotes.html#facts

   AJR – cats are also a major impact to native wildlife: http://www.paws.org/pets-wildlife.html

   Comment by raincity — 11:52 am November 14, 2011 #

6. Coyotes ARE native to Washington. Outdoor house cats are not.

   Comment by KBear — 12:36 pm November 14, 2011 #

7. Coyotes are native to WA. They’ve just increased their range following opportunities from human expansion.
   .
   For the science (not unreviewed web-page misinformation) on real impacts of cats, see extensive review in Marzluff et al.’s Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World, 2001 (easily available, book format).

   Comment by AE — 12:53 pm November 14, 2011 #

8. Nifty cat enclosure on the PAWS website. Let your cats enjoy the ourdoors without getting eaten and/or destroying wildlife.

   Comment by AE — 12:54 pm November 14, 2011 #

9. “When is the city going to do something??? This is a safety problem!!”

   Rather than waiting for the City or someone else to take action, I think all of us with cats and other small pets need to do something by including safety as high priority and as our responsibility as pet owners. And that does not include allowing them to roam freely since predators, cars and some humans can cause injury, or even worse, to them. Cats and other small pets are extremely vulnerable when allowed to roam freely, and wishful thinking that they won’t be harmed is just plain wrong. Being killed by coyotes is one of many risk factors. It really makes me sad to look at the “Pets” section of the WSB, and see how many cats are “Missing”. We as cat owners need to make a choice on behalf of the cats we consider part of our family: Keep them indoors with lots of toys, cat trees, safety and love, or let them go outside, where it is NOT safe for many, many reasons, which could mean getting killed and eaten by a coyote. Cats can easily be trained to be indoor-only pets, and happy ones, at that. I know this because I have 3 very happy indoor cats. Before becoming indoor-only cats, one of mine was killed in my yard by a stray, roaming dog.

   Please, please, keep them inside!! If you feel you must let your cat or other small animal outside—never, ever leave them unattended.

   Comment by wswildlife — 2:15 pm November 14, 2011 #

10. I see coyotes fairly frequently. There’s even been reports of them climbing complex staircases, harassing people’s cats/dogs through the living room windows. I’ve even come face to face with 3 coyotes one morning, when walking down the street to get to my car.

    That coyote citing log is pretty interesting. Most people think I’m telling tall tales when I warn them about walking their small dogs outside late, since attacks have occurred even when people were walking with the dogs.

    Comment by Duke — 2:21 pm November 14, 2011 #

11. I landscaped a large 5 acre property east of Lincoln Park this summer and up to the present. There is a coyote den on the property. Very cool stuff! Move over Alf.

    Comment by Guy — 2:54 pm November 14, 2011 #

12. I can’t believe that you people think it is “cool” to have vicious predators running around. Coyotes don’t belong here. Domesticated house pets do. I did mention that my cat was killed, and probably died a terrifying death being ripped apart while still alive. Cool? Have some empathy.

    KBear, I bet you are not “native” to WA either.

    Comment by A J R — 3:35 pm November 14, 2011 #

13. AJR, I am very sorry for your loss. But nobody is calling coyotes “cool”–they’re pointing out that our neighborhood, with its large amounts of greenspace and ready access to food (coyotes are scavengers and will raid garbage, not to mention the rodents that garbage attracts) is pretty much tailor-made for coyotes.
    .
    If you lived in a rural area, you could shoot them yourself, just like every farmer I’ve ever met (including my father) has had to do. If you really believe that there is cause for concern, then contact State Fish and Wildlife, just like the helpful link WSB posts every single time this topic comes up tells you to do.
    .
    For my part, I regularly run, walk, bicycle, and otherwise travel around my neighborhood a stone’s throw from the West Duwamish Greenbelt, and encounter loose dogs, raccoons, and feral cats far, far more often than coyotes. My point being, there are plenty of dangers to a house pet out there besides coyotes. Keep your cat inside, or be aware that in letting it out (especially at night) you’re taking a risk.

    Comment by datamuse — 4:11 pm November 14, 2011 #

14. Will the dept of fish and wildlife actually help? I know that 2 years ago, it was reported by the management of a couple apartments in my area to them, and they were told that coyotes will not be removed from the area due to the sheer population of them, and how expensive and difficult it would be to remove all of the local packs from the area.
    
    I’m curious. What has been the experience to others when contacting them for help with coyote problems? There are 2 dens known about near Holly st just 2 or 3 blocks from Lowman Beach…

    Comment by Duke — 5:31 pm November 14, 2011 #

15. I find it disturbing when any animal dies a violent death, however suggesting that coyotes be eradicated so that people don’t have to take responsibility for keeping their cats indoors is a bit over the top. We all know that there are coyotes in West Seattle, so all of us with pets need to take responsibility for them if we don’t want them to become part of the food chain. (And yes, I have had a cat killed by a coyote in West Seattle.)

    Comment by liveherenow — 6:06 pm November 14, 2011 #

16. AE, that was a great source that you posted (for scientific info on urban bird populations & trends). I searched for “Marzluff et al.’s Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World, 2001″, and was able to access pdf’s for most of the chapters. Cool.

    Comment by lt fd — 6:08 pm November 14, 2011 #

17. “coyotes are native to western washington”. So are cougars.
    “you are more likely to get attacked by a domestic dog than a coyote”.
    Disingenuous, to say the least, comparing a wild animal to a domestic one. By the same logic: “you are more likely to get attacked by a domestic cat than by a cougar. Cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare!” In fact, rarer than coyote attacks on humans.
    So, shall we invite cougars into our neighborhoods, since they were here first? Maybe mastadons too?

    Comment by Tony Woo — 8:11 pm November 14, 2011 #

18. I called Fish and Wildlife about numerous daytime coyote sightings in my neighborhood, and they laughed at me. They said no one was collecting this data because there were far too many coyote sightings in the Seattle area to log. Logical?
    Nothing will be done about these pests anytime soon.
    People have kept cats for centuries for controlling rodents. I personally believe that cats should be allowed to be outside. I only let my cat out for a couple of hours in broad daylight. He is an amazing mouser, and has cleared out a mouse family that burrowed into my neighbors attic, killed many mice here and at our beach house, and wiped out the moles destroying our neighbors’ grass. Yes, he has killed a few birds, but on the whole, he is much more interested in rodents than birds, as are most cats. I have a right to choose to let my cat outside. Others want to keep their cats safer indoors. That is their choice too. For those of you cat haters or people who don’t choose to have cats, keep your opinions to yourself about the coyote problem.

    Comment by JenF — 8:10 am November 15, 2011 #

19. JenF, how do you ensure that your cat only kills nuisance birds, and not native songbirds?

    Comment by KBear — 8:50 am November 15, 2011 #

20. Well, JenF, why don’t YOU keep YOUR opinions to yourself? If you were a cat-lover, you’d keep you cat inside. And apparently you don’t understand that moles, voles, and other small mammals are wildlife. They belong in the outdoors. Domesticated cats do not.
    -
    I hope your cat doesn’t die an awful death because YOU are so ignorant. Poor kitty.

    Comment by AE — 10:25 am November 15, 2011 #

21. lt fd – I know, it’s very cool of them to have made those papers available online, free! Glad someone looked :)!

    Comment by AE — 10:33 am November 15, 2011 #

22. I looked too! Couldn’t find an easy-to-link snippet, though. But Google Books had an extensive excerpt – TR

    Comment by WSB — 10:42 am November 15, 2011 #

23. Yeah, the trick is to get the table of contents and then search for the individual articles. A bunch of them have pdfs online. Hope this helps.
    -
    And thanks for the reporting – I wish MSM took the time to actually research the information they pass on!

    Comment by AE — 10:55 am November 15, 2011 #

24. JenF, I have a cat. Am I allowed to express my opinion?

    Comment by datamuse — 12:37 pm November 15, 2011 #

25. I believe the cat killings by coyotes have been sensationalized.There area lot of coyote haters/uneducated people who want to just kill them for no reason. People don’t want to learn and adapt with them since we humans have been encroaching on their land and all other wildlife’s territories. Humans are the most destructive animals/mammals in the universe.

    Comment by louvey — 7:37 am November 16, 2011 #

26. “For the science (not unreviewed web-page misinformation) on real impacts of cats, see extensive review in Marzluff et al.’s Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World, 2001″
    ________
    I assume you are referring to chapter 11.
    .
    Page 251 figure 11.3 shows that crows, raccoons, and blue jays were eating quail eggs. Cats much less so. Looks like the cats just played with the eggs….
    .
    Page 252 says they did not take snakes and rodents into their study.
    .
    Page 246 has about three sentences about cats. Not really an in depth look.
    .
    Page 249 shows no correlation between cats and quail eggs….
    .
    And in the abstract of chapter 11, they state that only testing was done with quail eggs and they really did not learn much about the overall situation.
    .
    While this reference does have a long title, it does little to show the “real impact of cats”. It does seem to show that blue jays like quail eggs.
    .
    _________________
    .
    And this issue is not a coyotes vs. cats issue. It is a coyotes vs. all of the small animals here. The cats are just the best prey choice right now for the coyotes. When the coyotes get finished with the cats, what will be the next best prey source? And if these coyotes were attacking and eating our pet dogs, would we start hearing “just keep your dogs inside”?

    Comment by Neal Chism — 12:19 pm November 20, 2011 #

27. I find this post most amazing. Growing up on a farm and seeing the how the circle of life as it realy is gives me a diferent propective. We all must die at some point even our pets. And sometimes mother nature is not all that kind about it but that is life. We all have to eat. So we are either killing something or eating its food. However you look at it we, as well as are pets are in the circle however much we don’t want to be part of it. And all life is precious even the pests that you are talking about not just your little kitty. They all should be valued and respected.

    Comment by reality — 7:43 am November 24, 2011 #

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