West Seattle Blog...

WSB Forum » Open Discussion

1. beaner66
   Member Profile

   10:40pm Saturday Nov. 19: We just saw 2 large healthy looking coyotes on 41st and Portland. They were trotting east on Portland and turned south onto 41st. They were not alarmed much by our presence, even when I stomped my feet and yelled at them, they actually stopped to look at me (so much for being scary!). They were moving fast and seemed way too comfortable around people.

   Posted 6 months ago #         

2. JanS
   Member Profile

   

   it's very cold out...keep the cats inside even if there are no coyotes in your neighborhood...

   Posted 6 months ago #         

3. WSB
   Member Profile

   

   That's the third double-coyote sighting. Used to be singles.

   Posted 6 months ago #         

4. JanS
   Member Profile

   

   they need a partner to cuddle with during the cold :)

   Posted 6 months ago #         

5. westseattledood
   Member Profile

   

   Now that another couple has been spotted in Highland Park again, I think Jan is right basically though maybe it's parents and year-old pups? I bet they are looking to set up new dens since the reclamation work in the West Duwamish greenbelt might have ripped out their previous dens. That would explain why the coyote was seen carrying off a big log - to cover the entrance to the new den perhaps?

   I am just wildly speculating. Of course. :D Even so, check out this article how a Colorado Parks Department is discouraging coyotes from setting up dens in their town - alcohol soaked tennis balls! It's a territorial trick! Could be an EZ thing for people to do if so motivated that wouldn't hurt anything - I don't think:

   http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17528994

   Posted 6 months ago #         

6. westseattledood
   Member Profile

   

   correction to #5, in case anybody actually reads this and tries this to discourage coyotes from entering their yards (after they have removed pets, garbage and other food sources of course):

   I wrote that tennis balls were soaked in alcohol, but they are actually soaked in ammonia; makes far more sense in that they are emulating coyote urine which marks territory.

   Posted 6 months ago #         

7. quesera
   Member Profile

   And your dogs on leashes!! I was sad to see a report of a coyote and a picture of an unleashed dog on the front page at the same time. If your dog is off leash, it will be immensely more difficult for you to protect it from the coyote. These things DO NOT fear humans any more. Please leash your dogs, especially the small ones. These coyotes are so far beyond what a typical wild coyote will do that there is no predicting them. We know from history in Seattle that coyotes will grab a dog that is right next to you, so imagine what would happen if your dog was trotting up the path fifty feet ahead of you. And yes, coyotes do kill and eat dogs.

   And thanks westseattledood for the tip!

   Posted 6 months ago #         

8. datamuse
   Member Profile

   

   The reclamation work has been going on for years. I'd be a bit surprised if that were the cause.

   Posted 6 months ago #         

9. westseattledood
   Member Profile

   

   Didn't meant to imply clearing of undergrowth was sole cause - perhaps a contributing factor given the amount of rabbits that lived in there? I am referring to the immediate surrounds above the PeeWee fields. That extensively cleared area there on the slope seems newly worked to me, given the large piles of brush, and that's the only place I have observed rabbits out in the open. I could be wrong. Also, visually, that old undergrowth appeared as a natural "hedgerow" kind of barrier between shielded forest and playfield. I am not 100% certain, but I believe I have read that those forest/field boundaries are where wildlife frequent most often...could be wrong about that too.

   And to clarify, I absolutely understand that the invasives need to be removed and native understory plants replanted in their place and that over time, that protective healthy understory will be back in place for the wildlife.

   I speculate wildly, I know. But who can say for certain anyway, so why not? ;)

   Posted 6 months ago #         

10. WSB
    Member Profile

    

    FYI re: the unleashed dog - that was at Westcrest Park, which is home to West Seattle's only Off-Leash Area. Doesn't render it immune to coyotes, but just so you know. - TR

    P.S. for those interested in the coyote topic, we request that sightings be e-mailed to us (you're free to post them here too if you want, of course) so that they will be catalogued in the official news archives. All coyote sightings we've received and published, going back four years, many with photos, are: http://westseattleblog.com/category/coyotes

    Posted 6 months ago #         

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.