West Seattle coyotes: Early-morning sighting at 35th/Thistle

| Coyotes | Westwood | Wildlife

Second one of the week, first one with a photo. Brian tells the story from 35th/Thistle (map):

Woke up this morning and let the dogs out to do their business and 5 minutes later I hear them barking like mad. Look out the back window and see this fella casing the joint. … While my dogs (and the neighbor’s too for that matter) would have turned this poor guy limb from limb, I guess I have to keep an eye on the cat! He looks hungry.

And that’s what wildlife experts say (state info sheet here) – while they counsel coexistence with urban wildlife, that includes keeping pets indoors. (WSB coyote stories/photos are archived here.)

john April 30, 2009 (11:39 am)

Absolutely wonderful to see wildlife of that size in West Seattle. I know they kill our pets, but our pets take that chance every time they leave our homes…that’s nature. I have two cats that I can’t keep inside….that’s nature.

Chris April 30, 2009 (1:03 pm)

This little friend occupys my and brian’s back yards and the neighbor in between. fences dont work as he has dug underneath them. guess the lure of a greenbelt for privacy has its downside

Brian April 30, 2009 (2:03 pm)

I was more concerned about my dogs barking at 5:30 in the morning and waking the neighbors than for any of the animals safety, really. It was actually pretty scared and spent the next half hour peering from the woods.

I guess a couple years ago my other neighbors German Shepard and a coyote became “fence line playmate” until someone poisoned the critter.

You would think that between my two dogs and my neighbor’s three (which one is the size of a VW bus) it would scare away but the small greenbelt must make it feel somewhat safe and a nice cool place to sleep during the day.

AJ April 30, 2009 (2:05 pm)

Coyotes seem to have more sightings at the WS Golf Course and along Long Fellow Creek also.
I haven’t seen a fox in about a year.

B-Squared April 30, 2009 (2:30 pm)

Yay for the coyote!!
the last fox i saw in WS was dead unfortunately:(

D.j. April 30, 2009 (7:00 pm)

Yeah, you probably won’t see any more foxes. As soon as coyotes appear, the foxes get eaten or kicked out. I liked them little foxy fellows and will miss them. Coyotes, on the other hand, mean we all have to watch out for the neighborhood pets — smaller dogs as well as the cats. And I hear they carry some nasty diseases, so hope your pets are vaccinated (raccoons can carry those diseases, too).

wseye May 1, 2009 (4:16 pm)

I’m afraid that the coyotes have pretty well wiped out the (native) foxes in Gatewood. I used to have one sit outside my window in the sun on a regular basis, but I unfortunately haven’t seen a single fox since the coyotes moved in about five years ago.

One trick the coyotes have learned in the dry summer months is to randomly chew into water hoses to drink. The only way I could get them to stop is to leave a bucket of water out – so you could say they won. I tried making sure the hoses were dry, but that didn’t work, I once had a commercial grade hose chewed to bits in the search for water that wasn’t there.

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