Seattle residents are used to living with wildlife. Raccoons, squirrels, and opossums have always been known to live in urban areas around Puget Sound. More frequently, though, Seattleites are realizing that a larger, more predatory animal is co-existing with them.
You might hear a coyote howling after an emergency vehicle's siren as it passes. You might even see one walking down the street.
Coyote sightings in urban areas have been on the rise in recent years across the nation.
In March of 2006 a coyote in New York City led a group of cops, news reporters, photographers, curious citizens and helicopters on a two-day chase through Central Park. The animal finally fell to a tranquilizer dart and was relocated outside of the city.
In July of this year, two coyotes were shot dead by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The coyotes were killed because they had attacked two large dogs who were being walked though the park on leashes by their owner.
Closer to home, in April 2006, two small children were attacked by a coyote near Bellevue. A 1-year-old boy was bitten on the ear while playing in the schoolyard of Eastgate Elementary School, and a 4-year-old boy was bitten on the buttock in the yard of his home in Eastgate. State wildlife agents later found and shot the coyote.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the attacks on the children in Eastgate were the first ever documented cases of a coyote attacking humans in Western Washington.
"While most coyotes do not attack people, a small percentage of animals become increasingly aggressive once they become habituated to humans," said Steve Pozzanghera deputy director of the WDFW wildlife program in a news release from last year.
Officials say the main way to keep Coyotes from becoming habituated to humans is by not feeding them. The coyotes that were killed in San Francisco are said to have likely been fed by humans.
You don't necessarily need to be directly feeding the coyotes to create the problem. The WDFW Web site states that seemingly harmless acts like leaving birdseed out in your yard can attract coyotes. If not because the coyotes will come and eat the seed (which can happen), then because the seed will attract an increased number of small birds and mammals, who coyotes in turn may feed on.
Coyotes are both hunters and scavengers. They will catch and eat small animals like mice, rats, squirrels, birds and frogs. They can also feed on grass, fruits and berries. Coyotes usually hunt at night, although there have been increased sighting of them in the daytime in Seattle.
Coyotes look like a small German shepherd, but with a smaller, bushier tail that is carried low to the ground, and a longer, more narrow muzzle.
TRACKING COYOTES
Capitol Hill resident Susan Stowers created a Web site, http://nwcoyotetracker.googlepages.com in order to document urban and suburban coyote sightings in Western Washington. Stowers began the site after hearing about coyote sightings from her neighbors.
"People had known for a few years that there were dens in the Arboretum, but seeing them in the neighborhood seemed like something new this year," Stowers said.
The site features a Google map with pins that show where coyotes have been seen, along with a brief description of the sighting.
Stowers put the coyote tracker up in early July. Reports of sightings came slowly at first, mostly from her neighbors around the Arboretum. The number of stories on her Web site grew, and the site was featured on the local news and in the daily papers.
"When I was covered in the news the number of e-mails I got just exploded to cover most of the city and suburbs. I expected to get more information from the eastside, but I've gotten a lot more from Seattle," Stowers said.
Stowers reminds viewers of NWCoyote Tracker that she isn't an expert on coyotes, and that her documentation isn't scientific. Still, the map gives a good indication of where people are seeing coyotes in the city. Capitol Hill has numerous hits on the map, including the following examples:
Capitol Hill - 5 a.m., June 2007. The coyote was reported as being shy when meeting a person with a dog.
East Capitol Hill - July 8, 2007, 3 a.m. A coyote pair ran past two people on the sidewalk.
Volunteer Park - A coyote was seen feeding on a black and white cat. It was noted to be possibly one of the park's feral cats.
East Capitol Hill - June 28, 2007, 1:15 a.m. 2 coyotes seen with a killed cat.
Volunteer Park - One seen trotting east in Lakeview Cemetery, late night/early morning (between midnight and 2 a.m.). Single coyote crossed 15th headed east, jumped rock wall to ravine.
Stowers began the Web site for her own enjoyment, and to inform the public about the animals we are increasingly sharing our environment with.
"What has been most interesting has been peoples reaction to sightings. Many of the emails I've gotten are almost poetic in their description of a sighting. People seem to really appreciate the chance to view wildlife in the city," Stowers said.
"On the other hand, I hear about so many lost and killed cats. It's important to share this information. Many contributors to the map are concerned about this, and this has been an important function of the site," she added.
URBAN PREYThere have been a lot of cats killed by coyotes in Seattle in recent years. Walking through the leafier parts of Capitol Hill, the missing cat posters tacked to telephone poles are common sights.
Small dogs have been killed as well. Seattle resident Andrea Stevens sent a letter out to the local media last year after a coyote in her grandmother's back yard attacked her dog.
"...While my family was on vacation and my dog (a 5-lb. Maltese named Boo) was staying with my grandparents, two coyotes came down out of their local park (which abuts their property line, on the other side of a 15-foot-tall embankment) and killed her and carried her away. My 83-year-old grandmother witnessed the whole thing out her back window," Stevens wrote in her letter.
An odd thing about the killing of Steven's dog is that the dog didn't live outside. It was kept indoors and was only let out side for short periods of time throughout the day to relieve itself.
"As far as we can determine, the coyotes that got Boo had been watching long enough to know that she would be outside, alone and unprotected, several times each day, because they got her literally moments after she went out," Stevens said, who wants to draw attention to the issue of coyotes in the city.
"While we understand it's impractical for the city to go on a mass coyote-removal spree, we would really like to see a change in policy whereby coyotes (and other wildlife, too) that have already showed aggression toward the local community, either through killing house pets, wandering through neighborhoods, or worse, are collected, tagged and removed to someplace far enough away from the city that they are unlikely to return," Stevens said.
Stevens tried to contact local officials, including the WDFW, and was frustrated with the lack of response she received. The WDFW told her it is unable to do anything about a coyote unless it has been reported to attack humans.
"Honestly, we really feel like the system let us down - there was literally nothing they were willing to do for us," Stevens said.
The WDFW website contains a helpful information page titled Living with Coyotes. The sheet lists several things that residents should do in areas where coyotes are present.
They include not leaving small children unattended in areas where coyotes have been seen or heard, never feeding coyotes, not allowing coyotes access to garbage (which includes picking up fruit from trees which have fallen to the ground) and keeping garbage and compost bins secured. Residents are also encouraged not to feed feral cats, and to keep their cats and small dogs indoors.
