it was just reported
A Coyote ate a 14 year old cat in Marin County CA.
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_5074088
oyote attack stuns San Rafael pet owner
Jennifer Upshaw
Article Launched: 01/24/2007 12:29:40 AM PST
A neighbor said a coyote made off with Gloria Goldsmith's cat, Baby. (Photo provided by Gloria Goldsmith)
A 14-year-old house cat was snatched by a coyote Monday in San Rafael's Bret Harte neighborhood, prompting authorities to remind residents that wild animals make Marin home, too.
"We have a coyote doing what coyotes do," said Cindy Machado, Marin Humane Society animal services director. "Yes, coyotes will eat cats if they have an opportunity."
Society officials received a call at 10:40 a.m. reporting a coyote sighting in the driveway of a home on Hazel Court. The coyote, which ran off, had a cat in its mouth, the caller told authorities.
A half-hour before the incident "he was sunning himself on the deck," said Gloria Goldsmith of her black-and-white cat, Baby. "I saw Baby and he was so happy. He was licking himself.
"I was absolutely stunned," she said after receiving the news from a neighbor who saw the incident. "I was devastated. I've heard stories, but I've never seen or heard a coyote. He must have been very hungry."
Neighbors in Bret Harte said coyotes have been around awhile.
"There's been coyotes around here as long as I've lived here," said Hazel Court resident Barbara Benepe, who has lived in Bret Harte since 1972.
Monday evening, Billou Avenue resident Elaine Mont-Eton was walking Tyke, a
ear-and-a-half-old German shepherd on the fire road near Bret Harte Park when she said she encountered a coyote.
"It was a coyote," Mont-Eton said. "I couldn't figure out what he was barking at. É He was acting very strange. He didn't want to keep going," she said of her dog.
Animal control officials advised being smart, not irrational about sharing space with coyotes.
"It's important people not overreact to this," said Sheri Cardo, the society's spokeswoman. She said a cat is much more likely to be hit by a car than attacked by a coyote.
Pets, especially small dogs and cats, should be supervised outdoors. Tips for keeping neighborhoods coyote-free include:
- Remove all pet food and standing sources of water. In Marin, it is illegal to feed wildlife.
- Keep landscaping, which can house both coyotes and a favorite food source, rodents, trimmed back along houses.
- Make noise if a coyote is spotted - good noisemakers include pots and pans, marine sirens, children's toys - by chasing them, screaming and generally acting big and large.
Coyotes should never be turned into pets, officials said.
Last season, a coyote had to be euthanized after officials learned it was being fed regularly by patrons of a local park, said Melanie Piazza, director of animal care at WildCare in San Rafael.
"That's something that's very important," she said. "If people start feeding them É it results in the death of the animal."
Attempts to domesticate wild animals could have dangerous consequences - in short, don't feed the animals, officials said.
"They see us as little vending machines, and when we're out of order, they get mad," Machado said.
Coyotes are all over Marin. In recent years, they have been spotted in Sausalito, Peacock Gap, China Camp and Terra Linda in San Rafael, as well as near Hamilton in Novato and the Horse Hill area of Mill Valley.
Pet attacks by coyotes are rare in Marin. Officials estimate five incidents have been reported in the last three years.
Last June, a coyote was the prime suspect in the death of James, a 15-year-old tabby living near Horse Hill in Mill Valley. A small dog also died in the area a few years ago, likely the victim of a coyote as well, Machado said.
"There are kind of rules we have to live by. When it's a sad bit of news like this, it really speaks volumes that we have wildlife in Marin," Machado said. "They're here to stay."