Coyotes On Pet Attacks A Growing Trend In SoCal

My latest for @guardian covers the grisly reality of what coyotes eat — and the mysteries of their population and behavior. High-cat diet: urban coyotes feast on pets, study finds https://t.co/qOShTy3z40

— Katharine Gammon (@kategammon) April 12, 2019

There’s a really nice urban park near where I live that I enjoy taking my dog, Emma, on walks when the weather is decent (the nicer it gets the harder it is to find parking there, so decent and not nice usually determines when I take the trip over).

But as we’re walking through the wooded trails, I always wonder if there are coyotes lurking. Living in a big metropolitan area makes it hardly invulnerable to sharing trails, streets and even backyards with coyotes. And as a Guardian story explains, a growing number of Southern California pet owners are seeing their fur babies victims of curious, hungry (or both) coyotes.

Here’s more from Guardian reporter Katharine Gammon: 

Once restricted to the western plains, coyote populations are surging in cities across the US. They are master adapters who have learned to survive in urban environments – a recent study found coyotes present in 96 out of 105 cities surveyed. But many communities are struggling to figure out new ways to deal with predators in their neighborhoods.

In Los Angeles there were 16 coyote attacks on humans in 2016, up from two in 2011. For small pets, the danger is even greater. Reports of coyotes attacking cats in the daytime – even in Hollywood – have popped up on social media. A neighborhood in Culver City recorded 40 pet deaths from coyotes in just six months last year. “Coyotes are the top – besides us – in urban landscapes,” says Justin Brown, a biologist for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area who conducted the study.

Keep your pets safe, Los Angelinos!