Where Have You Seen Coyotes?

What appears to be a dog wandering around Chambers Creek in Plainfield might not be a stray pet – it may be a coyote.

Coyotes are all around University Place, and have been for some time. State officials estimate at least 50,000 of the canines live in Washington state. UP residents responded to a previous story on Patch by telling us us where they’ve seen coyotes, and what happened. Generally, there’s no need to react if you see a coyote wandering about.

“My husband saw a coyote run through our front yard,” UP resident Andrea Cano said, “so we all went to the back door and watched it go into our backyard, scratch itself on a tree and leave through our neighbor’s backyard. I wouldn’t let my kids outside for a week.”

In the worst cases, readers reported that the coyotes had attacked and eaten pets, as coyotes are opportunists and get food wherever they can find it.

“Our neighbors witnessed two rip apart their cat in the middle of the night,” UP Patch Facebook user Heidi McCaig said.

People can prevent attacks on pets by keeping them indoors at night, when coyotes are most likely to be around, and feeding pets indoors so the coyotes do not get into their food.

“If I saw coyote stalking my pet, I would most likely run it off,” Patch reader Chris said. “If it tried to make a grab for my pet, I would probably kick the snot out of it until it ran off.”

Coyotes live in dens under trees and logs. Males and females occasionally mate for life. A female gives birth to an average of four pups at a time in April and May and provides the most care for them. This is when conflicts with humans often occur, because the new pups increase the food requirements for the den. You shouldn’t go near an occupied den, because mothers will fight to protect their young. By nature, coyotes fear humans and will run away if challenged. Generally, they want to leave humans alone.

“I watched it go into the storm drain, come out, shake the dirt off and watch me for  a minute,” Facebook user Nichole Smith said of a coyote she saw at Chambers Creek. “It just kept its distance. I was fine with it.”

Many commenters echoed the sentiment that people should respect the wildlife, since that population was here first.

“We don’t ever want our pets to get hurt, but we have to remember we moved into their area,” Facebook user Kimberley Zimmerman-Strickhorn said.