West Seattle, Washington
30 Wednesday
As we continue to co-exist with urban wildlife, things like this happen. (I found it on a blog search, but the author mentions he’s sent copies to the media, so the tale might be told more widely soon.)
I am very sorry to hear about this family’s loss. I deeply understand grief at the loss of a pet — we’ve been through that. But because this author seems to be urging a search-and-destroy mission against coyotes, out of his pain and grief and fury, it’s worth noting: The vast majority of urban-wildlife-vs.-pet cases involve unattended pets. That’s not a humane way to treat your pet, in any circumstance. Cars are a much bigger threat to them than other animals (no matter how “quiet” you think your neighborhood is) — as other, unfriendly humans can be.
Important to note, this sounds like the rare exception. The author does not describe the specific circumstances except to say that the dog’s owner “witnessed” the coyotes take it.
But again, in hopes of saving OTHER pets’ lives, it’s an appropriate occasion for one of my soapbox issues: The most responsible way to care for a pet is to keep it a house pet. Dogs, you can walk, on leashes. Cats — they do NOT “need” to roam outside. Old myth. (Besides possible danger to them, they also are a danger to what relatively few birds we have left in our neighborhoods.)
I’d love to hear your comments if you disagree with me. I just feel strongly that the solution to urban wildlife-vs-pets isn’t “eradicate the urban wildlife,” it’s “keep your dogs on leashes and keep your cats in the house.” (The blogger who lost his family dog also talks about kids — fwiw, I don’t believe you should leave them unsupervised either.)
-Falcons at the WS Bridge? Had no idea till today. Wish I could invite them over to dine on the backyard rat.
-Elliott Bay has one more crab tonight. I was lurking down at Pier 66 when up walked a young gothy couple with a bag from Uwajimaya. A tweaker transient made a huge point of asking them what was in the bag and then announcing to the rest of us bystanders … “A live crab? And you’re gonna release it? Cool!” The ceremonial release followed. Maybe they got the idea from watching the young-couple-in-love-before-nuclear-annihilation lobster toss in “Miracle Mile.”
If your West Seattle dwelling happens to be one of those older houses, as is mine, you may also be getting visits from the spring crop of spiders. (Ours favor the bathroom and can often be seen dropping from the ceiling on a single strand, like a mini-bungee jumper, then scampering back up when we get too close.) In support of my first annual plea to “let them be,” here’s a simple, non-arachnophobia-inducing local list of house-spider myths debunked.
The trilling of birds outside my window reminds me that one of the joys of spring/summer is upon us … watching and hearing a variety of little beauties as they emerge from winter hibernation and/or return from migration. I am no expert but I know the names of the main players — especially the gorgeous Steller’s jays that love to hop around our tiny yardspaces, the great blue herons that turn up along the Beach Drive shores during low tides, and the flickers (woodpeckers) with their splashes of red. And of course, we have eagles. My great fear is that these birds’ visibility and viability will dwindle as has been the case with sea life; when we moved to WS more than a decade ago, it wasn’t hard to spot sea lions on almost any given day, including their fin-waving “rafting” group behavior on occasion, but now it’s a rarity.
Anyway, enjoy the birds. Looks like the real “pros” have identified this as prime time too.
I don’t see it on the Seattle Aquarium’s own site yet, but a source sends me word that the aquarium’s cuddliest critter finally has a name — with West Seattle significance! From the official press release:
HI! MY NAME IS ALKI The male northern Sea Otter pup born at the
Seattle Aquarium on December 6, 2005 officially has a name. “Alki” was
chosen from names submitted by the Aquarium’s Otter Watch volunteers.
“We decided to give the privilege of naming this otter to our Otter
Watch Volunteers” explains Sue Donohue Smith, Manager of Volunteer and
Guest Services. “For six to eight weeks after otter pups are born at
the Aquarium, we have the Otter Watch program running. The volunteers
work four hour shifts, 24/7, outside the otter exhibit. We collect data
on the behaviors of both mother and pup and compare those behaviors to
other otters born at the Aquarium. Being able to compare the data gives
us a good indication of how the pup is doing. This is tough duty in the
Winter!” Joe Weiss submitted the winning name of Alki for the otter
pup. Joe is the teacher of the Marine Technology program at the Seatac
Occupational Skills Center [OSC]. The Aquarium has a long standing
partnership with the program, placing students as interns in life
sciences as part of their curriculum in the program. Joe told his
students about the naming contest and asked them for ideas. The classes
voted on the name Alki, which he submitted as his choice.
If you’ve ever seen the Otter Watch volunteers on duty, you know it’s hard work indeed. We visited the aquarium shortly after this little guy was born, and marveled as the volunteer simultaneously managed to keep her eyes on the pup, keep her fingers on a keyboard to log the otter’s every action, and keep calm while quietly fielding excited questions from about a dozen kids a minute.
Not a good season for West Seattle possums, unless their abundance as local roadkill is a sign of a population increase off the asphalt. While further flattening the one that lay in the northbound lane on the south half of Delridge over the weekend, I pondered the potential meme of “run over roadkill, or swerve to avoid it?” Googling shows me that somebody else already has adequately addressed the topic …
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