Seattle Parks and Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife officials say they are aware of reports of aggressive coyote encounters in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park including a reported incident over Thanksgiving weekend.
You can help by being aware on walks in the area — and doing your part to keep the animals wild.
The incidents are happening as WDFW trapped and killed a coyote that showed signs of having been fed by humans earlier this month in the Arboretum.
The most recent Volunteer Park incident was reported by Q13 as a man described a coyote that “stalked” his dog.
Incidents reported earlier this month in Volunteer Park were more serious including an account of a late-night biting incident reported November 12th on Reddit.
A CHS reader reported another serious incident that took place November 19th
I had two dogs on normal length leashes (5 or 6 feet) with me. I was walking through the big field by the stage, and a coyote attacked my dog. I yelled and yelled, but that didn’t deter the coyote at all. Luckily, other people in the park heard me, and a bunch of people showed up, surrounded the coyote, got it to drop my dog, and pushed it off the field. Even with a group of people yelling at it, the coyote just tried to get around them to get back to my dog.
Seattle Parks says they are aware of the reports and have reached out to the state and USDA for support. In 2012, the USDA headed up the effort to track and kill an ill coyote showing signs of aggressiveness near the park. “Coyote management” is usually contracted by a city with the USDA, and, so far, USDA efforts in Seattle around coyotes has been limited to singular cases like the coyote hunted down on the Hill in 2012.
For now, it is not clear what the next steps will be for the wildlife agencies but signs have been posted warning visitors to Volunteer Park.
Officials typically say relocation is not a viable option because of the coyote’s large ranges. “Were coyotes to be removed from a greenbelt or park, other coyotes would quickly re-inhabit the area,” a parks spokesperson told CHS last year.
You can help keep the area’s coyotes wild. Never feed them. Keep your pets leashed. And give the animals a scare. The USDA’s Wildlife Services says proactively scaring coyotes helped reduce interactions:
Captive coyotes were exposed to one of five human experiences: 1) adult walking, 2) adult walking with a dog, 3) adult hand-feeding coyotes and walking, 4) child walking, and 5) child hand-feeding coyotes and walking. After repeating the human experiences with the coyotes for five days, the participating adult or child then was asked to haze any coyote that approached them to within 1 to 3 meters (3 to 10 feet). Hazing involved shaking a tin can full of coins, yelling, and stomping their feet.
Results showed the number of times coyotes approached and experienced hazing decreased over time. This suggests that coyotes that have been hazed learn to avoid behaviors (i.e., getting too close to people) that might result in more hazing. Additionally, coyotes that were fed or were followed by a person with a dog were more likely to approach a person even if it resulted in being hazed. Researchers conclude that coyote hazing can work, but a coyote’s past experiences with people influences hazing effectiveness.
It helps to pay attention — and also keep your cool. A common coyote behavior called “escorting” is often mistaken for stalking.
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