Coyotes Eat Cats and Dogs in Villages
 

Posted in thread coyote pet screen..this deserves to be read by animal owners IMO, and I am reposting in the pet forum...

"10-15-2015, 02:26 PM
MDLNB
Platinum member

Thanks for the info. I am thinking of replacing my birdcage screen and it might be smart to go with the pet safe stuff.

Not to change the subject, but we've had six or seven cats disappear in the past week in my neighborhood. One neighbor on the golf course side said she had her little dog on a leash, getting ready to take it out back and suddenly noticed a coyote staring at her. There have been coyote(s) observed on Glen View golf course around St Simons and Valdosta villas in the past couple of weeks. Most of the cats that disappeared were roaming loose, except one (some were feral but spayed and chipped). That cat was removed from a lanai after the animal tore through the screen. I find it hard to believe that a coyote could snatch that many cats in such a short time in the area of Court Yard Villas. Seems to me that the cats could go over the CYV walls where the coyote couldn't. I haven't heard any Bob Cats but someone in the neighborhood said they saw one. Sounds like a rumor so I can't verify it. I have not heard a bob cat, and I do know what they sound like from living in NC and having one in the woods around my home.

I just find it strange that six or seven cats suddenly disappear with no one seeing anything."

Thank you MDLNB for reporting the kills and sightings....

Coyotes easily jump walls, and can go up to 11 feet or more.
Coyotes mostly work at night and we have no idea they are outside our home.
Coyotes adapt to urban life, bobcats do not.

Videos of coyotes working are an excellent education. We do not have to guess what they are capable of. Will post some later in thread.

Punta Gorda, Fl, july 2015
Chihuahua snatched.."i am warning people..be careful walking the dog."
Coyote snatches Chihuahua in Deep Creek - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

W. Boca Raton, jul., 2015 residents walking with weapons....coyotes stalking them
Coyote concerns for residents in West Boca Raton neighborhood - WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miami Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco

Anna Maria, Fl, UF Ifas responds to coyote problem. 300 sightings in pinellas county, "with missing cats and dogs"
Note that Pinellas county is tracking sightings through citizens report form.

UF/IFAS helping homeowners across Florida deal with coyotes | IFAS News

"Some tips to live in harmony with coyotes include:
Do not leave small children unattended in your yard or at playgrounds in areas where coyotes are known to live;
Walkers or joggers should carry mace or a whistle and blow it when a coyote is spotted;
Keep small dogs on a leash within six feet of you;
Keep trash lids secured on cans or keep cans inside your garage;
Remove outdoor pet food;
Secure crawl spaces under homes with screening or lattice;
And prune shrubs to discourage den-making."

Supposedly it was a bobcat that got the two or perhaps three cats off the lanais in Lynnhaven and Ashland. I do not have a photograph of one though or any hard evidence just the word of various people here in Lynnhaven I have talked to. They have seen coyotes in the same neighborhoods though. This is usually been around 1 AM.

Tal, Fill me in why bobcats are thought to have taken the cats? This has been said several times...with hedging words like "scuttlebutt"...you were seeking the source...tell me what you learned.

They seem to think that the screens could not be cut as they were by coyotes. One of my fellow Lynnhaven dog walkers who lives near the Churchill Downs Rec Center-- where two of these attacks were according to her-- found the very mangled body of the first cat missing in Lynnhaven. It was only partially eaten. She seemed to be going on what the dead cat looked like. I assume it was more claw marks than bite marks? These were people she knew who had their cat dragged off. The later Lynnhaven attack was last month a few doors east of the first attack on the same street. The third attack was the one reported on the other Villages web-site about the 20 year old cat drug off. The first attack was in Ashland. These people seem to compare notes so to speak in their grief and anger.

Coyote Eats Cat in Huntington Beach - Warfest.com Local News - YouTube

Coyote eating cat in daylight.
Gruesome, horrid.

That is what animals do. We do too. Eat or be eaten. We protect our young and when we are older our pets become our young.


There is something going on here that I don't understand. There are most certainly coyotes roaming about and our unprotected pets are in danger.


But exactly the level of danger is not clear in my mind. I know people pretty well after a long time on this earth. Was that original dog on a leash? There are a LOT of rumors, and exaggerations and half truths and downright fibs going around this community.


AND if every single one of them were true...including the "six or seven" pets snatched, what should we do other than be very careful with our pets?


Kitty, do you think that a trapping plan should be instituted by the local government? Has that been effective or is there a limitless supply of wild animals that will continue to wander in attracted by the people who feed birds and other small animals?


I soon learned that I wasn't in Ohio anymore and stopped feeding the birds in Florida due to information found on this forum and by long term Florida residents that I know well. The bear dilemma in other parts of Florida is scary indeed.


Kitty, you are a lifelong Florida resident, what do you think is the answer?

This is now a huge community. Ten or so pet snatchings a year does not seem extreme.

It seems to be the feral cats that go missing most. They could get hit by a car or golf cart.

Most of the dog injuries and deaths I have heard about while going to the Doggie Doo Run Run since January 2007 have been from golf cart accidents or pooches getting lose and hit by cars/trucks.

I worry more about the sometimes idiotic golf car and other vehicle drivers when I am out at night. Some are going almost 50 MPH on Churchill Downs at night and just a few nights OK I saw a SUV take a turn and go far to the side of the street it should not have been and this was right into a dark portion of the street we live on.

As a lifelong Florida resident, I can tell you that we never had as significant problems in Rural Fl as we now have in TV. From reads, the decimation of red wolves made coyotes king. Their population is swelling everywhere in US and Canada, and there is not one urban area with an effective solution, whereas livestock farmers use a multitude of methods with modest success.

Trapping is not that effective bc coyotes are intelligent and adapt quickly and generally avoid traps and certainly do after one of the pack dies that way (info from local trapper.)

The solution is perpetual extermination, and that is out of the question. Developer cannot assume liability by taking any action, otherwise becomes potentially liable for any/all damage by coyotes (info fm claims agent.)

That sounds like lawyers playing games. I have heard talk from the Lynnhaven group that they may collect money for a trapper for the bobcat. Have not had any more information about this. That would be private action though.

I would think though that if a particularly troublesome pack of coyotes were targeting a specific group of homes that the Villages would get involved especially if very recent development in that area by the Villages itself pushed some pack of coyotes out of their home territory?

So far it just sounds like a coyote targeting one home because of easy pickings before and lone coyotes getting other pets as prey when they have found an easy target. The bobcat also seems to be going after weak animals with the 20 year old cat last month. My guess is that it is just one bobcat that is wandering around Lynnhaven/Ashland.

Reply
 

It is difficult to believe it is bobcats unless the animals stray or left outside as many do in the north as we were surrounded by bobcats, some living in an empty lot next door. I don't think they left my two cats alone out of courtesy but that they were always in our screened lanai. I do know cats if terrified by thunder will rip the lanai screen to escape.

As far as coyotes go, they indeed are different and like all animals looking to eat as they want to survive. Like a previous poster said, they have grown in numbers rapidly because the new breed has bred with eastern wolves and they have become amazingly intelligent. If the food supply is good, they live harmoniously around the populous neighborhoods.

I urge you to get perspective and use the search on Netflix for the well-done film on coy wolfs. You WILL see them differently and I did have more respect for their amazing capability but also got a sense of calm.

Most of my life I've lived in a forest setting due to my profession and watched the wildlife carefully. IMHO, do not panic but learn, respect and protect your pets. If not, remember the Beavers and Bison.

I wish I had a Netflix link to share as so many seem so upset with this.

Try this out for me and see if it works

Video: Meet the Coywolf | Watch Nature Online | PBS Video

thanks for sharing

Are you saying we have coy wolves AKA eastern coyotes? If that was established a while ago, I'm sorry I missed it.

Good informative info regarding coyotes here in Central Florida.

http://www.gainesville.com/assets/pdf/GS238071018.PDF