Coyotes Can Be a Threat to Your Pet
When you think about all of the dangers that exist for your pet, you could probably make a long list.
Serious infestation of ticks or fleas, eating or drinking all types of dangerous toxins, from fuel to lite your outside grill to the dead bird in your yard and the ever present speeding neighborhood vehicle.
However, we usually don’t think of natural enemies that our pets may encounter.
Although, here in southwest Florida, natural predators are always a common problem, with alligators taking animals from yards, parks and other areas. We must be on constant alert with or pets, particularly around natural ponds, canals and lakes.
Now, unfortunately we have another issue.
The Naples Daily News reporter Villi Finney recently wrote about a series of at least four attacks on local pets by coyotes.
Even more disconcerting is that the owners were with these pets at the time of the attack.
“We believe it's coyotes, but it could be feral dogs,” said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spokesman Gary Morse during a media briefing Wednesday.
The FWC has set live traps in the suburban neighborhood in an attempt to locate the coyotes.
The attacks have taken place in a neighborhood with many families with small children and pets, heightening the fear of the situation.
Dr. Martin Main, a leading coyote researcher in Florida, said he believed that the attacks were by a pair or coyotes with new born pups. He surmised that coyote pups stay in the den until they are about eight weeks old, and then first venture out of the dens when they are about 10 weeks old to learn to hunt. They stay with the parents typically for a year before venturing out on their own.
Coyotes typically can roam a 10- to 15-square mile area.
The Daily reported that FWC officials, along with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have joined in an attempt to control the coyotes because they have become a nuisance and danger.
In March, a pug dog was snatched from the owner by a coyote, while she was walking her pet and just this week there was another attack on an owner and two small dogs.
Morse and Main say living with coyotes is something Floridians will have to get used to.
“Florida is blessed with an abundance of wildlife and a place where people like to come and live,” Morse said.
But, the increasing population and growth in Florida leads to conflicts with wildlife.
FWC stated that there are management plans for alligators, bears and panthers, but none for coyotes.
According to Animal Diversity Web, coyotes are native to the Neoarctic region. They are found throughout North and Central America. They range from Panama in the south, north through Mexico and into the United States, and Canada. They occur as far north as Alaska and all but the northernmost portions of Canada.
Coyotes are extremely adaptable and use a wide range of habitats including forests, grasslands, deserts, and swamps. Because of their tolerance for human activities, they are also found in suburban, agricultural, and urban settings. Coyotes are less likely to form packs than are wolves. Hunting, which takes place around the den, is done individually, in pairs, or in family units depending on prey availability. Coyotes are essentially nocturnal but can occasionally be seen during daylight hours.
Part of what makes coyotes so successful at living in so many different places is the fact that they will eat almost anything, including human trash and household pets in suburban areas.
Apparently, then these attacks can occur in almost any area of the United States.
Just another reason to plan and prepare for the well being and safety of your pet.
You are responsible…assume the responsibility.
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