(Video sent by Bob Mohr, recorded by son Jack, in Genesee Hill around sunset Monday, between 55th/54th/Genesee/Dakota)
While that short clip of a coyote on the run in a West Seattle neighborhood – watch the sidewalk at :25 and :40 – isn’t from Highland Park, that neighborhood’s plan to talk about coyotes and other urban wildlife tomorrow night would seem to be of interest to all. A federal wildlife biologist is on the Highland Park Action Committee‘s agenda, 7 pm Wednesday at HP Improvement Club (12th/Holden), and all are welcome. Also on the agenda: The proposed Duwamish River cleanup plan, and why, with a month left for public comment, it should matter to you.

(November 2nd photo by Scott Painter)
That photo was taken at Camp Long about 400 feet north of the lodge, by the photographer’s estimate. But as you’ll see in this roundup of recent reports received from WSB readers, they don’t by any means limit themselves to parks and greenbelts. The photographs we receive tend to show them in those settings, but here’s one spotted on a neighborhood sidewalk:

Katina, who shared that photo, explained:

My family and I encountered this coyote at the intersection of Walnut Ave SW and SW Hinds (October 28th) at 10:30 am. It was clearly injured about the neck area. It was originally sitting in the middle to the street, but began to run as our car approached. It then slowed down and just stared at us before taking off down 40th Ave SW.

Seven more recent reports are ahead, starting with a pet owner who saw two coyotes make off with her cat:

Maggie sent this on Friday:

My cat was taken from my front porch by two coyotes (Thursday) night and left dead /eaten on my neighbor’s lawn. I saw them with my own eyes. We live on 52nd Avenue up on Genesee hill. Our porch is up several stairs; it was a bold move to get her there. We are not next to open space.

Please, please get the word out that it does not matter where you are located, if you are in West Seattle, your cat and/or small dog can be taken from your front door.

Get your pets in by dark. I wouldn’t wish this day on anyone and, unfortunately, it was avoidable.

Earlier on Friday, we had received this note from Meg, which might be related to Maggie’s story:

This morning there was a sighting of a large coyote on 52nd Ave. SW (between Andover & Dakota), on Genesee Hill. I can only assume that it came from Schmitz Park. Unfortunately, it had recently killed a neighborhood cat, leaving the remains on my neighbors’ front lawn. My husband and another neighbor actually saw the animal and both stated that it is a “large coyote”, standing at least knee-high. My husband compared it to our 60 pound cattle dog. I don’t know who the cat belongs to, but I do recognize it from the neighborhood. It was white, with large black spots and long fur. It was a decent sized cat, not small. I am very sorry for the family’s loss and for my neighbors unfortunate discovery (I was late for work, and simply covered the cat with a towel). . .

I don’t know if this is the right way to go about this, but I was hoping to get the word out. . . With the later darker hours, coyotes, raccoons, and possums will be active until the sun comes up. Neighbors need to be cautious when letting their smaller animals outside and even during early morning walks.

It’s a somewhat precarious world for the coyotes too. On Tuesday, we received an anonymous note titled “Coyote hit by a car,” including a photo of a coyote carcass strewn with flowers:

Rest in peace, Mr. Coyote, we will not miss you. Love, all the neighborhood pets you’ve eaten. This photo was taken at 35th Ave SW and 112th Place.

Also from Arbor Heights, Joanne e-mailed us today:

I spotted a coyote in my fenced back yard on Thursday morning at about 8 a.m. I live in the 3600 block of SW 107th. Just wanted to add that to the other sightings in the neighborhood.

Scott tweeted this today:

Laura reported a sighting last Sunday:

Two coyotes were seen at 3 am … at the corner of 49th & Hill Street in North Admiral. (I saw them at that early hour because they were growling outside my window and it woke me up!)

Also in Admiral, Cameron and her dog had this close encounter on November 1st:

At about 10:30 pm I let my mini-poodle out for her usual nightly “business.” She wandered over to the grassy lookout on the corner of SW Hill St and SW Walnut Ave. I took my eye off her for a minute to turn some lights off and clean up from the trick-or-treaters. When I glanced back over in her direction, I noticed an animal’s head peering out of the bushes about 15 feet from my dog. Thanks to the wonderful photography on the West Seattle Blog, I quickly recognized the large pointy ears and knew it was a coyote. I immediatetly sprinted toward the lookout and when I was close enough, the coyote disappeared back into the brambles. Phewww … I don’t doubt for a second the coyote’s intentions as I have seen the other reports listed on your blog.

I cherish the wild neighbors we have in West Seattle, but this animal is demonstrating aggressive behavior.

In case this is the first coyote report you’ve read here, we want to say it again – we don’t publish sightings to be alarmist, but instead, to be educational. We still hear from people who are surprised to hear about or see a coyote in their neighborhood; in five-plus years of sighting reports, we’ve had them from just about everywhere in West Seattle. So how do you encourage them to keep their distance, and what do you do when you see one? This information from the state is a must-read. Meantime, our past reports on coyotes are all archived here, newest to oldest.

Mark Wangerin thinks that might be the same coyote he’s photographed before in the West Seattle Golf Course/lower Camp Long area. This photo is from Thursday. And it leads off the latest list of sightings reported by WSB’ers – read on:

On the 19th, Christine saw one in Gatewood, at night:

I was out walking my dog … in the 6700 block of 38th when I spotted, in silhouette, what I thought was a lone coyote walking across Warsaw Street. It wasn’t running, but had that slower. lankier, “on the prowl” demeanor. It went into the alley between the homes on 38th and 37th in the 6700 block.

That same day, Jeff saw one on Puget Ridge, by day:

Smallish coyote in our backyard this morning. On 17th across from Duwamish Cohousing.

Wendy sent this report:

I live in the North Admiral District and was startled by a large coyote running down the middle of my street (Sunset Ave – 1300 block) early Tuesday [last week] afternoon. It appeared to be running at about 20 mph and as I have a small dog, this was very scary. My neighbor also saw it while walking her dog, a larger breed. She phoned me to give me warning after hearing my story.

(The preceding day) I ran into two other dog walkers near 45th and Seattle Ave.. One gentleman who has a small dog told me that he and his dog were actually CHARGED by a coyote on Tuesday, the day of my sighting. He had to grab up his dog and stomp and yell to get the coyote away from them. The second lady with a large dog had also been frightened by a coyote.

Please let people know how fast and fearless these animals are. They can run up to 40 mph and will devour anything they can get. Even tho’ they prey on small animals, they are very capable of taking down a large one.

Tanner reports a suspected sighting:

I was just getting some late-night coffee at 1:30 in the morning, and out my window on 37th and Kenyon I saw some sort of canine run up the street. I knew it wasn’t a dog of any kind. I was trying to decide whether it was some sort of wolf or fox. I was about to call animal control, but then I went online and found out there had been a number of coyote sightings in West Seattle even just in the last few days. I also looked at pictures of coyotes on wikipedia and figured it looked a lot like an adult coyote. And that was ultimately my conclusion.

After our last roundup two weekends ago, Ann sent word of two sightings in one day:

The first was around noon. I was driving down 36th toward Hanford and a coyote ran down 36th ahead of me and turned right on Hanford into some bushes/trees.

Later in the day around 3 pm, I looked out the window and saw a coyote (may have been the same one, couldn’t say) in my backyard. I live on 36th and my backyard backs up to a tree/bush covered hill/cliff over Admiral way. I scared the coyote off and it ran into the bushes.

We have seen eyes looking at us at night from the bushes and our dog sometimes gets really worked up so I think they are in our yard often. My husband and I suspect that there is at least some small faction of them that live on that hill overlooking Admiral between 36th and Admiral since we see them so frequently.

Also after our last roundup, Karen in Hansen View (near The Mount) said her neighborhood had been talking about these a few days earlier:

· Susan emailed that she encountered a coyote around 8 PM when she was out walking her dog near 36th & Brandon. The coyote came up Brandon from 37th. Susan wrote that “He (she?) did not want anything to do with us, which is great — skulked off down the street in a big rush. Might be a good time to remind people to get their cats in early, since it was only 8 and that seems early for coyotes to be out roaming around.”

· Victoria then wrote: I saw the coyote around 11ish am yesterday morning heading down the 5000 block ally btwn 37th and 38th. I was in my car and stopped to snap a picture b/c I was so surprised. The picture is not clear or I would send it to you. It just seemed to be searching for food.

· Tim then responded: I also saw the coyote around 7 crossing 37th and Hudson, heading west into the alley between 37th and 38th.Then saw it again on 37th while walking the dogs at 8. It clearly was hanging out in a small area for awhile.

Coyotes have been seen just about everywhere in West Seattle – we have mapped the sightings reported to us over the past five years (and will be adding these), and while there’s little chance each one represents a unique coyote not duplicated elsewhere on the map, it at least shows how far they range around here. It’s most important, experts say, to do everything you can to encourage them to keep their distance – that’s all explained by state experts here.

Last time we published a roundup of recent coyote sightings, we included a reader photo from 36th and Hinds. After that, Marvin Music sent photos of what he thinks might be the same one – above – often seen, he says, near his home in the 33rd/Hinds area, though seldom in daylight. And now, it’s time another roundup – starting with two sightings came in barely an hour apart this afternoon. First, from Katy:

Approaching the intersection of 41st and Dawson just a few minutes (4:10 pm sunday) ago I startled a coyote, who turned north on Dawson and trotted along the sidewalk nearly the full length of the block. I glanced away to grab my camera and he/she turned up into one of the yards for cover. My husband swears he saw a coyote with two older pups in the neighbor’s yard about a month ago… These sightings are happening in the middle of the day. We have some folks in the neighborhood that choose to leave feed out for feral cats…I’ve seen raccoons also feeding on those porches. Perhaps these things in turn attract the coyotes… who knows…. I am assuming they will avoid people, but again, who knows. Slightly unnerving.

From Trina:

Just wanted to let you know I saw a coyote in our neighborhood. It was on 26th Ave SW between 100th st and 99th st. Let people know to keep their pets inside!

Ahead, four other sightings from the past week:

From Amy on Friday:

Not alarmed by this at all, since I know there have been reports of them in this neighborhood, but I thought you could add it to your map. My husband was just in the front yard of our house (42nd between Hudson & Dawson) and saw a coyote streaking up the sidewalk heading north. He was impressed by how fast the coyote was moving, and was quite confident it was not a loose dog.

From Patrice on Wednesday:

This morning about 6:10am I was walking my dog (a lab mix), and I saw a coyote running on 34th Avenue SW north toward Thistle. My dog is older and usually doesn’t get that excited about much, but she was jumping & barking over this canine.

From Mike, last weekend:

Lone coyote adult running scared up Spokane and turned left at top of hill going past Madison Middle School @1:45 pm.

Also last weekend, from Raechelle:

Just a quick note to report a coyote sighting – running north (away from us) on the west sidewalk of 42nd at Andover. At first, I thought it was a deer because it almost looked like it was prancing, but then thought nah, it couldn’t be.

And one more thing of note, since the last coyote-report roundup – NPR linked WSB coyote coverage, as well as coverage from other cities, in this story, speculating on whether other “large predators” might follow coyotes’ example and move into cities.

So what do you do if you see one? (Short answer: Do your best to scare it away, for their sake and yours.) How do you discourage them from taking up residence in your neighborhood? That’s all in the info-link we usually share with coyote sightings – from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Still don’t believe they’re everywhere? We continue adding to the map of sightings that have come in since we started tracking them five years ago (and will add these sightings too).

Bryan photographed that coyote in his back yard near 36th and Hinds, where he says it’s showed up the past two days. That’s one of four sightings we’ve received in the past five days, including:

*13th and Cloverdale (same area mentioned during last week’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting), last Friday morning. Amy writes, “I was walking home from dropping my kindergartner off at Highland Park Elementary. I was heading west on Cloverdale and saw the coyote on the corner of 13th and Cloverdale.”

*Also in Highland Park, last Thursday. Erin writes, “Saw a coyote … run across our backyard that borders the greenbelt in Highland Park. After clapping loudly to scare it away, I realized there was a second one off in the woods in a different direction.”

*From the Fairmount Ravine area, Jennifer sent in a “found cat” note last week – after, she said, “I just had a coyote chase a young gray cat into my yard. … He sat down across the street from my partner and yawned at him this morning when he interrupted the cat chase by going out to get in his car.”

We report periodically on coyote sightings not in the interest of hysteria, but in the interest of neighbors reminding neighbors that they live among us. For answers to questions such as “what do I do if I see one?” and “what do I do to encourage them to keep their distance?” the state’s Living With Wildlife: Coyotes infopage offers thorough advice. Archived coyote reports published on WSB can be found here; the map we published earlier this year, to show all the places WSB readers have reported sightings since 2007, can be seen here.

That photo is from Aly, taken in July in the 24th SW/Cloverdale vicinity, where she reported this week she is still seeing them. Then this morning, Becky reported that coyotes were “hanging around” Hamilton Viewpoint Park early today. Those two were simple sightings – but this next note also came in from Highland Park a short time ago, causing us to speed up the coyote roundup we were working on, since this is reported in an area popular with dog owners:

I live on 3rd Ave SW behind Westcrest Park and off-leash park and I had my 4 dogs attacked last night by the coyotes that are in the area. There have been 2 of them spotted on my street in recent weeks. I have one of my dogs in critical condition now and 3 I am nursing at home. Please, everyone, watch out for them; they are even out during the late afternoon in daylight. We need to find a way to get the city or state to set up a trap to move them into the mountains.

We have a followup question out. Ahead, three other recent coyote reports:

This one’s from Elaine:

I saw a coyote in our alley at 7:30 am (Monday). And when I walked my dog a short time later, our neighbors had a notice up on the utility poles at the North & South ends of their alley stating that someone saw the coyote in their alley also. Our alley is the 4500 block between SW Alaska St & SW Oregon St. The alley South of us that also had someone seeing the coyote was the 4800 block between SW Hudson & SW Edmunds. I saw the coyote traveling North up our alley.

That’s not far from where someone texted us early Monday that they saw one “jogging” – 42nd and Hudson. Also on Monday, Frank saw a coyote in the South Park area:

About 3:30 am, crossing from the west side to the east on SR 509 just North of the Cloverdale overpass. Nice-sized one.

We have been publishing reader-reported coyote sightings (and two of our own) since 2007 in hopes awareness will lead to the kind of action recommended by state wildlife authorities – in order to keep them wary of humans. Follow that link to learn what to do if you see one (short version: try your best to scare them away).

“Look who was sunbathing in my backyard today!” Jude wrote, sharing this photo on the WSB Facebook page. Clearest, “closest” coyote photo we’ve seen in a while – but no, Jude wasn’t really face-to-face with this one; she was inside her home and equipped with good camera equipment, as well as skill. She lives near Schmitz Park – but remember, as our map of WSB’ers’ coyote reports showed, they’re everywhere, not just near parks/greenbelts. (If you do wind up close to one, the best thing to do for their sake and yours is to try hard to scare it away – the state’s coyote-info page has suggestions.)

My wife was walking our dog this morning in the Westwood area when she came across a coyote with a black cat in its mouth. This happened on 32nd Ave between Thistle and Cloverdale. Just want to give all of our neighbors near here a heads-up.

Everything you want to know about coyotes – including what to do when you see one – is here.

That brings us to the Seola Beach situation we first reported in late June, after learning that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services division had been called in to investigate the possibility of “aggressive coyotes” (here’s our original report). We finally got back in touch with Wildlife Services’ regional assistant director Ken Gruver late last week after a few bouts of protracted phone tag. He in turn checked in with the field agent who was reported to be working with neighbors upset by coyote attacks on two dogs last spring.

Gruver is the official who told us, as quoted in our second June report, that the field agent, Aaron Stevens, was on a “fact-finding mission” that could lead to a recommendation to kill one or more coyotes.

In this latest conversation, Gruver told WSB contributor Katie Meyer that Stevens believes up to nine coyotes are in the Seola area, and his current task is “technical assistance” – educating those who are out walking dogs, etc., to keep them close, and trying to figure out who is feeding the coyotes. Gruver said that with up to nine in the area, “I guarantee you someone is feeding those coyotes,” and that’s what contributes to the coyotes losing their fear of humans, and getting too close to people and pets. “In nearly all cases of problem coyotes, we can trace it back to people feeding them.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean somebody putting out bowls of food specifically intended for coyotes – it’s food left outside for pets, garbage cans left open, food left in parking lots or picnic areas.

As of that conversation, there had been no specific identification of problem animals, nor any decision to kill them. Gruver told Katie he doesn’t know what’ll happen next, but, “hopefully if there’s a food source, we will find it and eliminate it, make people aware. And if you see a coyote walking down the street, run him off – make him shy of people, get coyotes back to being afraid of humans.” That’s the same advice in the state Department of Fish and Wildlife “coexisting with coyotes” information we’ve long been sharing here.

How long will Stevens continue investigating/assisting in Seola Beach? “Unknown,” Gruver replied. We’ll continue to check back.

My husband came across coyotes in mid-hunt early this morning, about 5 am, while walking out of our house and to his car. He saw them snatch a small animal; he was pretty sure it was a cat.

We live right at the top of the Seola Beach ravine/greenbelt at 35th and 108th. The exact spot when the coyotes confronted the woman and her dog last fall. Thought I would report it in case anyone in the area misses their cat today…

It’s been a busy day for lost-and-found pet reports, but we haven’t heard anything from that area. Meantime, the state’s Living With Wildlife – Coyotes informational page includes info on what other animals coyotes eat – and important advice on what to do if you see one (in short: scare it away).

That’s Seola Beach Drive in southernmost West Seattle, a street that first leads through a ravine, and then to a small beach community. It’s where one WSB’er had an encounter last night that might portend the arrival of federal coyote hunters in West Seattle, from an agency that reportedly has killed a million coyotes, among other animals, and come under increasing scrutiny as a result. We are still investigating – but on the chance that someone else has had a similar encounter, we wanted to share his story, and the results of our first followup.

Garry says a “silver full-sized pickup” showed up at his neighbor’s home last night, while he was out with his dogs. A man got out of the truck and told Garry “he was from the Federal Government, and was out to find/ hunt and probably dispose of at least one, perhaps two coyotes that have been ‘getting too close’ to humans. He said he had some calls with the animals stalking kids, other dogs on leashes etc. …”

He gave Gary a cell-phone number, but not a business card. Gary says the man “drove down the street, was down there for a while, in the greenbelt below Arbor Heights Pool, then I went inside and never heard the truck go back up the street.”

The prospect of a federal agent hunting/killing coyotes sounded like something we read about recently, thanks to a comment here on WSB – a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture called Wildlife Services. Across the country, it has come under criticism for some of its “hunting” – looking for the latest headlines, in fact, we found this report datelined today, regarding a Congressional request for an investigation of its methods. That story mentions a California newspaper’s recent series of reports on the agency, which says Wildlife Services has killed more than a million coyotes, and many other animals – the link provided by this commenter last month.

Here in Western Washington, if you search for news coverage mentioning Wildlife Services, you will find a few cases of urban coyote hunting – one of its agents killed three coyotes last year in Lake Forest Park, after a controversial case in which a sheep kept in a backyard was found dead, a coyote feeding on it. (There is disagreement over whether the coyote killed the sheep or just happened to find it as food.)

In 2010, Wildlife Services trapped and killed an “aggressive coyote” in Magnolia (here’s coverage from our partners at The Seattle Times).

Back to our e-mail conversation with Garry from Seola Beach. After his first note this afternoon, we called Wildlife Services’ Washington state office in Olympia, and spoke with director Roger Woodruff. He said that without “checking with (his) field agents,” he couldn’t confirm whether a Wildlife Services agent had been assigned to hunt coyotes in West Seattle, and asked for details we didn’t have at the time – did the truck have government plates? Was the purported agent wearing a uniform?

We asked Garry. He didn’t notice the former, but confirmed the latter. And he recalled the man’s first name – Aaron. So we will be checking with Wildlife Services again tomorrow. What Woodruff did say – repeatedly – during our conversation this afternoon is that his agency “does get calls” about coyote concerns but that it “never goes onto private property without permission.”

In the five years we’ve published coyote reports here on WSB, we don’t recall hearing about coyote hunters – federal or otherwise – so we’re wondering if you have encountered anyone like this recently, as we continue researching what’s going on. If you have, we’d be interested in hearing from you (editor@westseattleblog.com, or post a comment).

Meantime, we drove Seola Beach Drive just before dusk tonight, looking for any signs of a coyote hunter. Garry tells us that he called Aaron earlier this evening after “happen(ing) upon an eviscerated doe near the side of the road, which is strange, because I have never seen a deer on this street.” Garry wondered if it were some kind of bait or trap; he says Aaron denied involvement.

We’ll keep following up.

ADDED 10:30 AM TUESDAY: Pending a longer, separate followup, we’ve learned more overnight and this morning.

This may be related to two reported cases in April of dogs being killed by a coyote, north of Seola Beach Drive. One area resident e-mailed us overnight to mention the incidents, including one in which the resident said a coyote came into a neighbor’s yard and grabbed an unleashed dog that was out relieving itself. She said there was talk among the neighbors of hiring a hunter/trapper for $1,200. This morning, commenter Beth reminds us that she e-mailed us after hearing something about this in April. We lost the trail of the story at the time while trying to confirm the dog attack report with the city – which apparently was not in the loop. At the time, we hadn’t heard of Wildlife Services, but some information Beth shared from a neighbor at the time indicates they are the ones who collect $1,200 to send a coyote hunter; an agent named Aaron (same name as the person mentioned in our original story above) is described as “specializing” in West Seattle.

Kimberly shared photos this afternoon of three coyote pups “playing in the landscaping in the back of our community.” That’s the City Lights Condos on Harbor Avenue SW (map).

These are the first coyote photos we’ve received in a long time; we’ve been planning to relaunch our coyote-report coverage with an extra element:

The markers on that map represent every coyote sighting published on WSB in the past five years – including the ones that came up in the comment section. WSB contributor Katie Meyer went through every story in our coyote-report archive, and the comments, to make the map. We intend to keep adding to it, and this one from Kimberly will be added soon. As the coyote reports have come in over the years, someone would suggest every now and then that we make a map, so there would be more of an overview look to underscore the point that they have been seen just about everywhere in West Seattle (not just near greenbelts), and here it is. Updates to come.

Quick break for a couple more short stories before we resume weather-related coverage. From Charley:

Today (Tuesday the 17th of January) a young coyote was spotted roaming around Riverview Park neighborhood. He visited many neighbors’ backyards and seemed harmless (maybe just a little hungry). He was later spotted going into a wooded area, which later he left to roam around more.

The WSB archive of West Seattle coyote reports – including what to do if you see one (hint: make a lot of noise – they and we need to remain wary of each other) – can be found here.

My husband just reported that there was a coyote in our yard (40th between Hanford and Hinds) [map]. The coyote walked down the street (south on 40th) and is heading that way.

We are asked on occasion why we publish these reports, and our response is usually “until we stop hearing from people who weren’t previously aware that coyotes are IN the city.” Latest example ahead:

We received this report this week from Cheryl, though it happened last month:

On December 17th we had a coyote in front of our house on 4th Ave. SW near the lower east side of Westcrest Park [map]. We have a tiny dog who was in the front yard around 9:00 pm when we heard her yelp & scream, ran to the door and saw the coyote standing over her near the cars at the edge of the street. Our dog ran like lightning to the house and when we tried to scare the coyote away, it actually took a few steps toward us. We stomped and yelled a little louder and it ran off around the side of our house (not into the woods as we expected). This coyote definitely seemed accustomed to being around people and we are SOOOO lucky that we didn’t open the door to watch a coyote carry our little dog away!! Prior to that night, and now finding this blog, we had no idea there were coyotes in the city. Needless to say, we are keeping a close eye on our dog now!

What Cheryl did is exactly what the experts advise you to do if you see one – it’s good for both humans and coyotes to have them keep their distance. (Other advice is here.) P.S. WSB’s four-plus years of coyote reports, some with photos, are archived here, newest to oldest.

Saw 2 healthy-sized coyotes about 30 minutes ago by Arch Ave SW and Walnut Ave SW [map] while walking the dog. They sauntered away to the NW after we saw each other (they were about 50 yards away).

Thought others in the neighborhood might like to know.

Coyotes made it into our West Seattle wildlife year-in-review report; if you haven’t read up recently on what to do if you see one (most important advice – try to spook them), here it is again.