COYOTE REPORT: ‘Pack of pups’ southwest of The Junction

| Coyotes | West Seattle news | Wildlife

For the first time in a long time, today we received a reader report about a coyote sighting:

Last night: a pack of coyote pups heard and spotted at 46th and Edmunds in West Seattle at 1:25 am. About eight of them, running wildly around houses looking for food.

Over the years, we’ve published coyote reports when we received them, to help people remain aware that we and these wild neighbors are co-existing. If you don’t know much about coyotes, or what to do if you see one or more, this state webpage can help.

waikikigirl May 14, 2018 (7:00 pm)

PLEASE, PLEASE keep your kitties inside and a very close eye on your dogs!!!

Those coyotes are hungry and pets are easier to catch than mice and rats for them.

Jort May 14, 2018 (7:18 pm)

COYOTE ALERT!!!

The state webpage has lots of helpful information, including some tips for what to do when coyotes get too close: bang pieces of wood together.

Note: this is an actual illustration from the state’s webpage.

Jethro Marx May 14, 2018 (9:00 pm)

This is great! I’ll start construction on mine tomorrow. I am wondering, though, where does one keep their coyote claptrap? Must we carry it on our person in a claptrap keeper of some sort?

Does the state have any plan sets for building an anti-owl device? ‘Cause there’s been infinitely more owl attacks than coyote attacks in West Seattle in the last decade or so.
- andy May 15, 2018 (6:08 am)
  
  You can’t carry it on your person unless you get a license and training.
- Helpful May 15, 2018 (8:54 am)
  
  JM- It’s not a trap, or a claptrap, to hit or trap a coyote- it’s a noisemaker to scare a coyote. YOU should definitely not carry or use..
  - Jethro Marx May 15, 2018 (12:54 pm)
    
    I was poking fun at the state and their ridiculousness; please look up the word claptrap and reread. I love coyotes, and feel that my grappling skills would suffice in the unlikely event that one were to menace me, but I, for one, welcome our coyote overlords.

dsa May 14, 2018 (7:25 pm)

Odd they show up when none have been reported for so long. I, being the curious one that I am suspect they may have been transplanted.

waikikigirl May 14, 2018 (7:48 pm)

@DSA…are you thinking there’s people out there corralling coyotes up and then dropping them off in unsuspecting neighborhoods?!?! LOL…yea OK.

Cherable May 14, 2018 (11:04 pm)

Hi DSA,

Check this out from the Blog archives:

https://westseattleblog.com/category/coyotes/

ttt May 14, 2018 (7:50 pm)

It is strange for only pups to be seen. This is near my house. Coyotes are great rat control. I think it is really cool how they have adapted to the city. They are quiet in the city, compared to out in the country. DSA, it is funny that you think someone transplanted them here. Coyotes have been in west seattle for a long time. We see them every few months in our neighborhood west of the junction.

datamuse May 15, 2018 (9:54 am)

I confused the heck out of one with my bicycle a couple of years ago. He came trotting up the street, saw me, did a double take, and hurried off in the opposite direction. I’m guessing he’d never seen a bicycle before…

Rick May 15, 2018 (1:01 am)

I walk to work on Calif Ave in Morgan Junction area (past Eddy ravine) and have seen a great many more rats than coyotes the last couple of years. We used to hunt them as varmints back in Kansas (2$ an ear!) but as stated earlier, I think they’re great for varmint control. And smarter than a lot of folk.

BJG May 15, 2018 (8:23 am)

Something’s on the hunt. There was an animal caught and squealing in our dark driveway last night in the Edmunds/45th neighborhood. Had my cat’s attention. Too late to get the lights on to see what happened.

Alki res 5 May 15, 2018 (4:11 pm)

Thanks for letting us know they are still around. We live on the edge of Schmitz park and heard them almost nightly for years. We haven’t seen or heard them for months and I was beginning to wonder what happened to them.

Come back coyotes May 16, 2018 (3:15 pm)

I am so glad that someone has heard pups. There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of sightings for about two years which coincides with a noticeable increase in rabbits and rats in our neighborhood. I miss these predators and wondered whether it was a natural cycle or influenced by more disruption of habitat and dens near public green space either from from new construction or more people and campers tramping through the public green space.

Come on back you wiley coyotes! I think we need some rabbit and rat population control

Sorry, comment time is over.