West Seattle wildlife: Coyote sighting at Jack Block Park

| Coyotes | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Thanks to Chris Weinmann for photos taken this morning of a coyote that he says is “stranded on the lookout at Jack Block Park. The coyote can’t get to you because it is behind the fence. It is very calm (probably cold and hungry) and has been there for hours now. I’m sure it is quite used to people stopping by, by now, too…”

Chris wasn’t sure if anyone had reported that it seemed to be stuck; he said he had no luck reaching Animal Control. We suggested a state wildlife hotline; meantime, we’re going over to see if it’s still there – it had to have GOTTEN there somehow in the first place, so perhaps it will find that same way out, if it hasn’t already. 3:30 PM UPDATE: Back from a visit to Jack Block (among other places). Checked the entire length of its viewpoints/overlooks and didn’t see any sign of the coyote.

lina January 17, 2009 (3:25 pm)

i was over there for a walk around noon and did not notice anything-i wish i had know a coyote had been spotted, i would have looked around a little harder! what time was this photo taken? i hope he is okay and i wonder how he got up there, stuck in the labyrinth of fences… how sad. if he is still there, what about calling PAWS? they are usually a great resource.

fritz January 17, 2009 (5:53 pm)

where is Jack Block park?

WSB January 17, 2009 (5:59 pm)

Park info is hotlinked to the name, including its address.
Here’s a G-map
http://is.gd/ghYO

Gina January 17, 2009 (6:10 pm)

Was there a low, low tide allowing the coyote access to the beach?

JH January 17, 2009 (6:52 pm)

Jack Block is my secret park! I never reveal it’s location…

JH January 17, 2009 (6:53 pm)

I meant its!

Cheese for the Whine January 17, 2009 (7:41 pm)

mmm… coyote stew… easier than dressing up like Rambo and hiding in Schmitz Park. Thanks!

WSB January 17, 2009 (8:10 pm)

JH, I’ll have to admit, I didn’t know JBP continued beyond that first parking area/lookout knoll till we went on our coyote check this afternoon. That southeastern pier is spectacular. What a great place for a walk, run, etc. … or sea-life watching (the buoy-dwelling sea lions were well within binoculars/camera-zoom range).

Iris* January 17, 2009 (8:40 pm)

Is the little guy waving or was he stuck on something? The poor thing! I really hope he got out!

Ron January 17, 2009 (8:58 pm)

A couple of our neighbors had their cats eaten by one of these varmits so I don’t think they will feel bad if this animal finally meets it’s end. Wait until we have a hundred of them in West Seattle, then you all might change your tune.

WSB January 17, 2009 (9:25 pm)

I would be surprised if we didn’t have a hundred already. Check our coyotes coverage category (sightings slow down in the fall and winter) …
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?cat=73
certainly not all the same two or three.

JH January 17, 2009 (9:47 pm)

WSB-shhhh. Make sure you tell everyone how horrible and stinky this park is! :-) Plus coyotes are kept captive there.

WSB January 17, 2009 (9:50 pm)

Oh, Junior Member of the Team, who accompanied me on Coyote Quest ’09, looked down off the overlook at something industrial on one of the rocky beaches beneath and shouted IT’S A FREAKING SUPERFUND SITE! (Actually there is one nearby.)

JH January 17, 2009 (10:00 pm)

It is! I haven’t been there in awhile, but did you notice the warning signs and the very cool beach you can’t visit???

angelescrest January 17, 2009 (10:19 pm)

I wondered about it, and what did they do w/the stuff that was dredged?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/241542_superfund21.html

WSB January 17, 2009 (10:32 pm)

It actually wasn’t dredged. We reported on this recently because there’s still some cleanup to happen in the area, and Jack Block is still being monitored:
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12456
As mentioned there, per the EPA, the seafloor part was “capped” with a layer of sand; the on-shore part was paved over.

What The January 17, 2009 (10:51 pm)

From the markings on this coyote it looks like same one that “Buffy The Coyote Slayer” schooled recently…he’s probably terrified of cats now and was trying to stow-away on a freighter.

000 January 17, 2009 (10:59 pm)

First of all, if you cared about your cats you would keep them indoors.
Second of all, I wish WSB would only make photos of animals in distress available after the “read more” jump. Please show some respect to sensitive readers and keep them off the main page.

WSB January 17, 2009 (11:05 pm)

Thanks for the comment — for what it’s worth, I’m about as sensitive as it gets — there are many things we’ve shot or received that have never even made it to the site (and I was the same way in my TV days, notorious as the newsroom manager who annoyed everyone else by saying “look, we just can’t show THAT”) but this didn’t seem to me like something that needed to be flagged. Always open for discussion, though.

JH January 17, 2009 (11:51 pm)

I’m so confused. What was distressing about this photo? The coyote was stuck behind a fence. It wasn’t like it was maimed and in pieces from an encounter with “Buffy the Coyote Slayer.” Or eating a cat. Good one What the!

WSB-no reason to flag this at all!

Zero-to-Life in West Seattle January 18, 2009 (7:30 am)

I just thought that Mr (or Ms Coyote) was showing the “cool, standoffishness” that Seattleleites are known for. I can almost see him or her thinking, “It sure is tough being stuck on this penisula!” Sure enough, he/she figured it out the escape.

Wednesday January 18, 2009 (8:17 am)

I’ve seen a few rabbits in JBP from time to time and have wondered if the coyotes ever get in to to feast on them. I guess they do! Low tide is probably how the coyote got into to Federal Building downtown many years ago.

JH January 18, 2009 (8:49 am)

It’s the Seattle Coyote Freeze! No wonder they never knock on my door when they come howling in my yard.

Mingus January 18, 2009 (9:43 am)

My wife, Golden and I were at the park at 9:00 yesterday and saw the poor thing from many different vantage points.

I called The Port Police when I got home (10AM) and they said they would send someone out. Hopefully that’s why it was gone later in the day.

It sure didn’t look like it would get out of that spot on it’s own.

Dano Beal January 18, 2009 (11:49 am)

(Sunday morning…) So is the poor scruff-face still trapped in there? I hope someone will let the WSB know what happens….

JH January 18, 2009 (12:03 pm)

Dano-according to all the messages here, the coyote escaped! Or…was not seen yesterday PM.

What The January 18, 2009 (10:14 pm)

He’s a stowaway on a tanker-ship to China…unfortunately for him as he doesn’t realize what he’s gotten himself into. He should have stayed in WS and taken his chances with Buffy…

WSB January 18, 2009 (10:21 pm)

Another note we received later yesterday suggested Seattle Animal Shelter (aka “animal control”) MAY have intervened … I have a message out to its director in hopes of finding out relatively early tomorrow whether that’s indeed what happened.