Coyote tore thru lanai screen, took cat
 

Two nights ago (Oct. 1-2) between about 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., a large animal tore a big hole through the screen on the small birdcage attached to our lanai and took our young Siamese cat, Timmer. I believe it was probably a coyote, because no other animal here would have been fast and powerful enough to grab Timmer before he could get away and come back in through the cat door to the lanai. I had not realized Timmer was in danger, or I would not have let him go in and out at night through the cat door; I thought he was safe with the screen door shut tight, the lanai and birdcage well screened, and a cat door to escape back into the house if something scared him. We are heartbroken; he was a beautiful, sweet young cat and we loved him very much. I'm writing to warn other cat & small dog owners of this terrible danger. http://lawmarkets.com/images/10-2-sc...-by-coyote.jpg http://lawmarkets.com/images/timmer.jpg

What? Starting the thread again?

Again? I tried to post yesterday but it never showed up anywhere that I could see.

Yes it showed up and many people posted on it. The thread has been deleted.

Have you lost TWO cats to coyotes here in The Villages?

You posted before you lost a cat in January. Now you posted again and said you just lost a cat.

Just looked at the online news site. There is a new story there of another cat taken from a lanai in Lynnhaven last night. Coyotes are highly intelligent opportunists, practiced observers, well aware of patterns. Could be.......

????

:agree:

Playing games.......

Probably. Can't wait to hear about the psychic cat that speaks English again.

. :confused: I am totally confused as to why this thread was deleted and then restarted?? It did disappear didn't it? It feels like "Groundhog Day."

That Lynnhaven cat has nine lives.

You got that right!

Can anyone say "SPOOF"?

There have been spirited and intense conversations about coyotes on this forum lately.

It seems so unlikely that anyone would allow another cat on the lanai if one had been taken.

The OP also has a post about training a cat to stay in the yard. I have had a lifetime of cats and this skill is beyond me for sure.

Not if the cat is psychic and speaks English. It also helps if the coyote returns the cat, only to take it again 9 months later. And if the cats in the picture are Siamese, my maltese/poodle mix is a Great Dane.

Dear su2009: I do not care what other posters think, I believe you because I believe in the decency of mankind. I take people at their word. I do not believe a person would be as unkind as to place fear in the minds of other animal owners that their "precious" could be vulnerable.

I suspect the rationale for this disbelieve stems because of the presidential race....doubting Thomas's one in all.

Not one thought about the grief you must feel losing a loved one. Not one thought about the torment that plagues you mind of your cat being tore from its habitat....the pain.... the agony....the loneliness

But in the event that you were being playful with us, we congratulate and thank you for the imaginative "camp fire" scary story.

Personal Best Regards:

Then, OP, your second post was deleted (disappeared; not closed, and no reason given by the mods). And now you've started the thread again.

I would really like to ask a few things: how many cats have were lost? Why, after losing the first cat, was the second cat allowed to be out on the lanai overnight? What proof do you have that it was a coyote? (Cats are strong enough to rip through screening if they want to get outside. My two dug a large hole in brand-new carpeting once, trying to get the sliders open.)

And finally, why is there mulch on both sides of the screen in the picture you showed? (This one just out of curiosity).

If you saw it, on the deleted thread, I posted that I would take the liberty of speaking for the skeptics in sincerely apologizing and feeling sorry for the OP if he/she truly lost her pet in such a cruel manner. But I also think that there is so much about the story that doesn't seem to hang together that there is room for legitimate doubt as well, starting with the 2010 post. And if the post is real, please, please, don't leave a third kitty out on the lanai.

That picture of the hole in the screen showing mulch on both sides is no longer there, CFrance. I don't understand and hope we aren't being mean spirited.

Okay, I'm thinking about this training of a cat to go outside and stay in the yard. I can only think of one reason to do that: the cat wants to get outside so badly that it will either learn how to unlatch the door or continually just claw a hole in the screening to get out.

Otherwise, with all the wild animals running around loose, why would you let a cat go outside down here?

That wouldn't have been OP's cat, as that cat was supposedly taken prior to last night.

I can't get the first link to open, but having had three Siamese, I can definitely vouch for the second link's picture. It's a young Siamese whose coat has not darkened yet.

I was referring to the pictures on the not to be named other news site. May not have been the OPs however

The cats mentioned in the other site lived in the Bonnybrook area. OP lives in Bonita.

I think that this is very troubling for anyone who loves animals. No one wants to show a lack of caring to someone who lost a pet or not encourage others to take every precaution they can to protect their beloved pets.


I hope that we aren't being played with. I cannot understand how someone would let a cat out on the lanai after they had reported another cat had been taken from the lanai within the year.


The site associated with the pictures appears to be owned by a lawyer living in The Villages.

So this means either:
1) both cats could still be Siamese
2) If it is the same cat, the coyote returned the right breed
3) If the second cat is a reincarnation of the first, it came back as the same breed. I wonder if it retained all its amazing training, or if like Shirley Mclain it had to undergo regression hypnosis.

4) Again, if it is a legitimate post, my apologies

I ditto your #4. But some things seem awfully darn strange and are not being clarified by OP. That in itself is strange.

Yesterday's thread was removed from public view as it had strayed far off the topic of protecting pets in the lanai. Many speculated whether the original story was truthful and, as of late in the day, the OP had not rejoined the discussion.

The OP later started this new thread with the same topic and, so far, the replies are similar to yesterday with much doubt about its veracity. If this trend continues and the OP does not provide details and facts that further support their story, this too, shall be removed.

We do our best to make sure posts are genuine. The takeaway message is protect your pets.

Moderator

Thanks to the moderator for the explanation.

Ditto!

Wait till the African Python migrates through, more than cats and dogs will be missing. The big African Python will take small calfs and in Africa some reports of humans. To double down they can cross breed with the Birmese Python which is already out of control creating and unknown super snake possibly?. Some say the Birmese are already in the area?

IMO the African Python the most aggressive of the snakes and can grow Hugh, only the anoconda gets larger. The coyote and the alligator will be on there menu along with everything else that breaths IMO?

I have heard of three different cats now taken from lanais in Lynnhaven alone. All in Lynnhaven and in about the same area. Near the Belmont Golf Course holes 3 and 4 but extended maybe a 500 ft radius from those points. This also includes the Churchill Downs Rec Center and the Lynnhaven Postal Center.

I have seen a coyote on the Belmont Golf Course. Golf The Villages This was a few years ago at about 7:45 AM while I was walking my former dog Sport near the Lynnhaven Postal Center. The coyote ran 20 feet in front of us in a big hurry to get away from all the people on the golf course. It did surprise a lot of golfers on Belmont.

The rumors though are that it could have been a coyote or a bobcat that snatched these now three Lynnhaven cats. Three different houses have been identified to me. I do not know how accurate this information is. The only first hand account is by the Saluda Street couple in the news source which must not be named. Their cat was taken on Friday night, October 2-3, 2015.

nice snake, please don't eat me

Great...now we have the python image in our heads and the paranoid will start looking under every rock instead of enjoying this beautiful place....
Keep imagination in check....a snake can be thought of as just an ailimentary canal...and I doubt any African Pythons will ever be seen here....I hope.

Not too much to worry about in TV. According to National Geographic, there have only been 6 African pythons found since 2002, and all of those were in a 1 square mile area in a suburb of Miami. They like the hot weather, so they probably will stay south. They can cross breed with the Burmese python, which tolerate cooler temps but still prefer it hot.

When we first moved here, some guy who liked to kid around on this forum was telling us that there were a lot of snakes found in toilets.


Well...I cannot tell you how that slowed down a lot of normal functions for awhile.

That's really funny. ;)

The Ashland cat snatched in September may be one of the Lynnhaven rumors. There are pictures of two cats taken now from lanais. This is on the site that must not be named.

Both of the houses where I have heard that cats were taken here in Lynnhaven seem to be on Saluda Street. They are not right together but a few houses apart. The other Saluda Street cat snatched was about two months or so ago. Maybe in August?

Now-------the-----
snake came back the very next day,
The snake came back, we thought he was a goner
But the snake came back; it just couldn't stay away.