Coyotes attack dogs in Golden Gate Park

[gunsmith]

who was it that was telling me here that I was crazy for saying there are "yotes" in SF?

it is gun related because SF policy is to call 911 while you and fido are being attacked
I'm sure this will bring my cyberstalkers out (see sig)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...YOTE.TMP&tsp=1

(07-15) 23:32 PDT -- San Francisco officials posted warnings in Golden Gate Park on Sunday after the first known coyote attack in the city in decades, when a pair of the wild canines charged two leashed dogs on a small path in the park.

"We're taking this very seriously," said Deb Campbell, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Animal Care and Control Department. "We have officers looking for the coyotes, and we are letting the public know about these coyotes."

The attack occurred about 9 a.m. Saturday, when a woman was walking her two large dogs along a path just south of Speedway Meadow near a large pile of mulch. Two coyotes bit one of her dogs, leaving it with minor injuries, and lunged at the other, according to animal control officials.

Animal control officers were patrolling the park after the attack, posting signs on Sunday that alerted walkers, runners and cyclists about "coyote activity" near Speedway Meadow. On Sunday, a female dog-walker said two coyotes followed her in the same area, authorities said.

Many of the people walking dogs in Golden Gate Park on Sunday were surprised to hear about the coyotes.

"I know there are coyotes in the Oakland hills, but how did they get to Golden Gate Park?" asked Joe Contreras of Oakland as he walked his Chihuahua near Stow Lake. "I wonder if we'll ever see them at Lake Merritt."

The California Department of Fish and Game will assist local officials in an effort to find the animals and determine how much they threaten public safety.

Jamie Ray, director of the San Francisco Rescued Orphan Mammal Program, has studied the city's coyote population since the animals returned to San Francisco a few years ago. She said coyote attacks on humans or dogs are rare.

Generally, coyotes prefer to hunt small rodents such as squirrels, rabbits, rats and mice, said Ray. But in Saturday's attack, the coyote bit a Rhodesian ridgeback, a large type of dog that can weigh more than 100 pounds and was originally bred to hunt lions.

"There's no way that a coyote would try to eat a ridgeback," Ray said. "They are so timid. If you give them five seconds, they will usually run.''

Campbell agreed: "We thought if we saw a coyote attack a dog, it would be a little one like a Chihuahua because (coyotes) don't tend to go after large prey."

Ray speculated that the coyotes in Golden Gate Park were a breeding pair and that Saturday's attack may have been an effort to protect their young.

"This might have been a defensive measure" because the dogs got too close to a den with coyote pups, Ray said.

City officials and wildlife researchers estimate that about five to eight coyotes live in San Francisco. These include at least two in Golden Gate Park and one on Bernal Hill. There have also been sightings in McLaren Park, Lake Merced and the Presidio.

Wildlife experts believe that human activity drove coyotes out of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, as more people began settling in the western portions of the city. But coyotes were spotted in the Presidio about seven years ago.

Researchers believe that coyotes, which can travel up to 45 miles in a day, returned to the city by traveling up the shoreline from undeveloped parts of San Mateo County along Ocean Beach. Researchers tracked the movements of a coyote in the Presidio with an electronic device and said it traveled to the Daly City area and back in one day.

The San Francisco sightings come as coyotes, which tend to hunt in the evening and early morning, have successfully adapted to human habitation and spread into undeveloped areas adjacent to cities and suburbs.

When Europeans settled America in the 17th century, coyotes were found mostly in the western United States. But in recent decades they have spread all the way to the East Coast and have infiltrated many major cities.

In April, a coyote attacked a toddler in New Jersey. In the past year, there have been sightings in Detroit and Chicago. And, since 2004, coyotes have lived in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park, only a couple miles from the White House, according to the National Park Service. Last year, authorities in New York City chased a coyote through Central Park for two days before catching it.

In Golden Gate Park on Sunday, Hector Bravo brought his wife, their three small children and the family Chihuahua on a daylong trip to the park from their home in Turlock (Stanislaus County).

"We walked all the way from the ocean to (Speedway) Meadow and picnicked in a remote area," said Bravo, as he pushed a stroller with his 7-month-old daughter. "Where we live, coyotes are all over, but I never expected to see them in San Francisco."

Gene Simone, who lives just north of the park, said he has seen the coyotes many times and has never felt concerned. He walks his schnauzer nearly every day near Stow Lake and Speedway Meadow.

"My dog has chased them, and they run away," Simone said. "They are really shy animals. I started seeing them about three years ago. I think they are beautiful. But you can't get within 20 feet of them. I'm stunned they would attack a dog. I hope (park officials) don't drive them out of the park."

[joab]

Unless that Ridge was a wimp or old why not just let it go
It had already been bitten

Sometimes the answer to a problem is right in front of your face

[RubenZ]

I agree. Its not good to be in the middle of a dog fight.

[eltorrente]

I encounter Coyotes all the time here in San Diego. In fact, I have one that comes by every night, stalking cats (including mine). All the cats scatter and hide a minute or so before it shows up.

Anyway, I've never heard of a Coyote attacking a large dog. They'll snatch a small dog/cat out of people's back yards though, and at night they get pretty brave. I used to have a dog that only weighed ~40lbs, and would chase Coyotes away from the old house I lived in.

My mom's neighbor had her little dog snatched from her backyard while she was standing right there watching it. A coyote jumped the fence, grabbed the dog, and jumped back over and she never even found a trace of it.

[gunsmith]

It was a real big one, I followed it on my motorcycle.
It turned around and wouldn't back down until I revved the engine and flashed my brights

[Regolith]

They must be getting brave over there, having never been shot at. I've never had a 'yote act threatening to me in Nevada; the closest it came was one that was curious and stopped to look at me for a while when I was deer hunting. Although, when I was about five (1991 'ish) one of the deputy sheriffs had to shoot a rabid one that was behind my home, which was located on the edge of town.

[El Tejon]

Didn't a coyote meander into a sandwhich shop in Chicago recently?

The times we live in.

Yes, here it is, down the street from my law school on Adams: http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/lo...093180735.html

[TallPine]

"We have officers looking for the coyotes, and we are letting the public know about these coyotes."

Have police released a description of the suspects...?

Seems as though these Wild Mangy Dogs (WMDs) are everywhere now

[El Tejon]

I don't know, was a sketch artist involved?

[Fly320s]

Not to worry, the police will hunt those coyotes with dogged determination.

[El Tejon]

Maybe its my professional concern but I fear the police will be barking up the wrong tree or chasing is tail.

[Biker]

Nope...this story has teeth and the press won't be muzzled. Consequentally, the police will be forced to rabidly pursue the perps.

Biker

[El Tejon]

This case has fleas. Tell the prosecutor to take his bone and go home.

[gunsmith]

can't you be Sirius?

[Dave P]

and we are letting the public know about these coyotes."


Yeah, I imagine all the old hippies are howling about coyote rights! I hear they have more bark than bite, tho.

[0007]

Heck, my daughter was telling me about this "big grey fox" that she saw in the back yard here in Bowie, MD. When I asked her for a better description, "coyote" kept running through my head. Grey, long muzzle, about 18" high, and a small(not bushy) tail. Their house butts into a nice "nature-type" park in the middle of the city.

As I told the neighbors(who have cats) "If you hear a very loud noise from next door and see me carrying a shovel, just figure I found a dead coyote", heh. (Both neighbors were fine with the idea.)

[sfhogman]

I live near Golden Gate Park, and have already seen one advantage to having coyotes there. The west end of the park, near the ocean, is where the coyotes live. The area used to be full of feral cats, fed by lots of little old ladies with nothing better to do. The cats wiped out the rabbits, songbirds, quail and anything else they could grab.

You know, I see very few feral cats these days. And I can't imagine those sweet little old ladies feeding coyotes...

By the way, I work at the VA hospital right above the Cliff House, on Point Lobos (good name, eh?). We've got 'em there, too. You can hear them at night.

My 2c,
Jeff

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Originally Posted by eltorrente

Anyway, I've never heard of a Coyote attacking a large dog.

Happened to my last dog. He was a 90# black lab, and two coyotes followed him while being taken for a walk, gradually moved closer, then started nipping at his hindquarters. Once he stopped meekly walking off, and turned to fight back, the coyotes ran off.

It's like that scene in Point Break, where the gang is in the van about to rob the bank after forcing the Johhny Utah character to join them. "Project strength, to avoid conflict" Bodie says (then another member of the gang says, "Peace, through superior firepower!") Same thing with coyotoes. If you try to walk away with even a huge dog, they may continue to harass. But if you and your dog charge them immediately, or start throwing rocks, the coyotyes will hightail it.

Now I have a 70# Golden Retriever. I taught him to chase after coyotes, and they all run away as soon as they see him, after they have been chased off for the first time. Once I saw a coyote guarding a junction in the trail, barking incessantly at a woman walked a leashed 100# dog only 10 yards away. But when my Golden Retriever got within 75 yards, the coyote abruptly ceased barking and ran off, as soon as it recognized my dog as one that had chased it in the past.

You just gotta teach those coyotes who the baddest mofo in the valley is!

[Justin]

ARRGHHH! PUNS!

Also, off topic.