COYOTE MATING SEASON and other wildlife Info
 

Just a warning to all to keep your pets inside. Our cat escaped Christmas Eve and has not been back. Spoke to the Florida Fish and Wildlife today. I learned its Coyote mating season so they are on the move". One was spotted in Collier. We had also seen one in the traffic circle near Rohan last summer when heading out at 5AM to go fishing. ALSO, there have been reports of Bobcat sightings in Briar Meadow and near preserve in Rio Ponderosa!! Food sources are getting scarce because of all the land being developed.

can you give a description of your pet? we can keep an eye out. last week i saw a VERY well fed gray cat in the Creekside parking lot. he had a collar, but was too skittish to get near

My cat is the typical all black, domestic short-haired and big.

My cat is a big black domestic short-haired. He was about 15-16 pounds when he left. He's got green eyes and his LT top ear is notched NOT clipped and he is of course, neutered. He a shy cat unless he knows and trusts you and that is gained through feeding him. Then he starts getting VERY affectionate. Many of his pictures are on the facebook Site "Lost Pets of the Villages". His name is Harry. THANK YOU!

thanks, will hold out hope Harry is reunited with you soon:pray:

The wildlife is running out of room and they have become more aggressive. I have read complaints about coyotes, gators and bobcats sightings. We have encroached on their environment so what did we expect? A coyote ripped through my friend's lanai to get at his cat. It was a gruesome scene. Use common sense.

excellent example of why not to leave pets unattended in the lanai:)

Sorry to hear about your cat , but the Bobcats in the area are multiplying because of the food source! I'm hoping they get the opossum , that runs around my area! God bless all of us

That opossum eats hundreds of ticks.

Don't give up on your cat returning. Keep putting out food front and back. My friend's cat has been missing since 12/7 and returned home last night. She never gave up and put food out every night. Hope you find yours. Post a picture on Nextdoor and here. Amazing how much help your neighbors will be.

Opossums are our friends.

Free roaming cats kill billions of song birds every year. I’m rooting for the coyotes and any other cat killers to protect our ever diminishing bird population.

i've spread the word on this end of town. i'm not sure where you live, but yesterday i was out with my daughter over on 301 near mlk blvd., when she spotted a large black cat with collar strolling near Hardee's (of all places, lol). this cat did not appear afraid of the area.

oh Cranford, how mean can you be?? jeez! what if the pet escapes or accidentally let out? this pet parent has feelings--thanks for raining on THIS parade. most uncool of you, sad to say

“ The wildlife is running out of room and they have become more aggressive. ”

Please sight your source for this statement.

There’s one in every crowd

Why need a “source”? Its common sense. Their territory is being taken away and they still live there and need to survive. You would get aggressive and nasty if you were hungry too

It's all the circle of life . Fair game if outside. And get your pets chipped!!!

Pure conjecture. From what I’ve read, coyotes associate residential areas with a food source, and can thrive.

Bottom line, people complain about over-development and the effects it has on wildlife, yet people move here. I guess The Villages should stop building once YOU move in.

??????
 

I'm sorry for whoever has to be around someone mean spirited enough to have felt it necessary to post that to a person saddened by the loss of their pet. With nothing nice to say it would have been better to say nothing at all. A lesson I guess you were never taught.

Really? I had to have one taken away and put in the Ocala National Forest because he became aggressive to both myself and my dogs. It’s a fallacy that the keel over when scared. This one was definitely aggressive

Seriously? He was aggressive because he, or she, was in a deadly situation from your dogs. 'Possums are wonderful animals, and the don't "keel overt when scared" you are confusing them with Fainting Goats. 'Possums will play "possum" when scared, but dogs mean a life and death situation for them.

I'm so sorry about your cat. My cat was killed Jan 21 last year by a coyote, when I lived in Houston, so I understand the pain.

While walking to the mail box this AM , saw a cat sitting on the left side of the entrance of the Sterlling Heights Rec. center

I heard the coyotes the other night. Probably on Loblolly or Longleaf golf course.

Black cat seen by Bonifay's Pensacola Golf Course. Last seen yesterday.

Lost Cats
 

Very Mean and self-centered comment. I suppose you don't like lost bird dogs either.

Construction has likely disturbed their habitat. Just wait a few years.

We have cats who detect low blood sugar and sense weather changes. Our front door does not have a screened entry yet - on order. Until then our kittens are fast and smart, so we knash teeth every time someone uses the front door. I feel for the caring pet parents who accidentally lose a pet.

Have you tried a live trap with cat food? Be ready to release some strange critters though.

Wasn't there a drone pet finding service here at one time?

More than 80% of Florida is undeveloped. Plenty of room for wildlife.

I thoroughly agree. I think you misunderstood my post.

With all the additional water features and natural areas south of 44 replacing pasture land, I suspect many forms of wildlife has increased.

Thank You....opossums are very good for the environment and eat ticks!:pray:

Thank You....opossums are very good for the environment and eat ticks!:pray:

Wait a minute. Wasn't Wile E. Coyote always trying to eat Road Runner?

Just sad that there always seems to be someone with a snarky comment on most message boards...we are from a small town and have just not run into that kind of rude behavior before. Every time we have come to rent for a month at TV we run into it as well whether in line for a class, playing mah jongg, etc but the number of nice people far out number them fortunately. If you can't be nice then be quiet...manners 101

Was it Tom cat?

Why do you think it’s called “road runner” :)

I’m sorry if you had an inside cat and he escaped but many people here and all over the country let there cats go outside and they do kill millions of birds every year a coyote only hunts for food while cats kill for play , coyote / cat I’ll always cheer for the coyote

Don't forget dingos!
 

Thanks for your hearfelt sympathy Pug Mom; I was born and raised in the Northeast and lived and worked near Cranford, NJ so this type of "a-empathetic behavior" does not suprise me....BTW MY phone number is 732-513-6747...He went missing in the Village Santiago off Enrique Drive near the mail station.

Yes and opossums are IMMUNE to several viruses we are not so they are good to keep around!:coolsmiley: