Coyotes pose danger to pets in Indianapolis suburb

[JRLeft]

GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP) — Residents in an Indianapolis suburb have been warned by police about a recent increase in coyote attacks on family pets.

Greenwood police said numerous residents have reported dogs vanishing from fenced yards and others being mauled by coyotes.

Assistant Police Chief Matt Fillenwarth said some coyotes were spotted tearing apart a deer carcass near Greenwood Municipal Airport along the city's border with Indianapolis, and a police officer's family pet had to be euthanized after the dog was badly injured in an attack.

"There have always been coyotes in Greenwood," Fillenwarth told the Daily Journal. "But they're starting to get more thick. People might just think it's one or two running around, but I'll tell you that it's more than that." The city's animal control department isn't able to catch or remove coyotes, although the Greenwood City Council might start hiring trappers. Resident Jason Gray said he worries about his two small dogs and has often seen various wild animals in a farm field next to his home in a newer subdivision. "Now that they're building houses back there I thought I'd see them less and less, but maybe not," Gray told WISH-TV.

Coyotes are attracted to suburban areas where they can find more food from sources such as garbage cans, table scraps left out for pets — or small dogs in fenced yards or tied up on leashes, said Josh Griffin, private land wildlife supervisor for the state Department of Natural Resources.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Coyotes-pose-danger-to-pets-in-Indianapolis-suburb-3971366.php#ixzz2A46gmWf4

[Skittles]

2. I work nights and routinely see coyotes

just last week I had to slam on my brakes for a coyote that was chasing something - rabbit or cat - across the street.....I honked loudly, hoping to interrupt.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

3. We have this problem in Orange County, CA

Warnings and everything. Even my sister's 20 year old cat was taken by a coyote.

[virgogal]

4. All over the place here in Eastern MA,including some

densely populated areas.

They are survivors.

[slackmaster]

5. A few years ago I saw three adult coyotes strolling along a hillside near my suburban home...

...in San Diego, CA, in broad daylight. I have also seen them in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park many times.

My dad, who was raised on a farm up in the mountains of San Diego County, hunted for food regularly when he was a child. He said that he had never seen a coyote in the wild.

[JRLeft]

6. People feed them, leave open garbage and pet food outside.

[Daemonaquila]

7. So stop building suburbs where coyotes live.

They were here first. I'm sick of entitled suburbanites wrecking the countryside farther and farther from the cities to live near nature, then complaining that nature is invading. Can't have it both ways. Countryside comes with owls, bears, coyotes, foxes, possums, skunks, and all manner of critters that may well play hell with Fluffy's little world.