A beast in Northeast
Word in the 'hood is that a coyote has been spotted for a while now up on the Alameda Ridge here in Northeast Portland. Its behavior has some folks speculating that it's not well. Seeing these critters within the city limits is nothing new, of course, but still, those of us in the vicinity had better keep an eye on the kitties -- and the toddlers! Coyotes will eat just about anything.
| Posted at 6:47 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (26)
Time to bring back wolves to control the coyote population? Perhaps some evidence -- spoor, por favor -- before that door is opened?
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | November 7, 2010 8:42 AM
That coyote's just reeling from the elections -- a more common form of distemper among rabid politicos.
Posted by Mojo | November 7, 2010 9:26 AM
We see them all the time in and around Rose City golf course. We use them as pacers for the joggers.
Posted by Old Shep | November 7, 2010 9:40 AM
One got my cat a few years ago but I live what some consider way, way out in east mult county......
Posted by john dull | November 7, 2010 10:01 AM
Coyotes are on Manhattan Island, NYC. The first one I saw in Portland city limits was trotting down the middle of a street in Eastmoreland late one night in '93.
Posted by Mojo | November 7, 2010 10:05 AM
Anyone see and empty ACME boxes?
Posted by John Benton | November 7, 2010 10:34 AM
Maybe it's best not to put that baby out in the sun . . . .
Posted by Allan L. | November 7, 2010 11:10 AM
Saw it this morning walking down Ne19th, just off NE fremont
Posted by lurker | November 7, 2010 11:14 AM
Probably headed to Whole Foods for some quail.
Posted by Jack Bog | November 7, 2010 12:05 PM
They're becoming a pretty big problem. We live just outside the city limits. Coyotes killed our beloved cat a few months back. I've found their poop on my driveway and sport court. And the other night, I was sitting in the hot tub and looked behind me and one was just standing on my lawn 20 feet away. They're not cute, they seem to have no natural predators and they like to eat our pets.
Posted by Bob Wiggins | November 7, 2010 12:35 PM
I thought that only Alf ate cats.
Posted by Bluecollar Libertarian | November 7, 2010 12:39 PM
They can be anywhere in the city, they have even been spotted in downtown at night, probably come down from the hills. Out in SW Portland in the Tryon Creek and Lewis & Clark College area they are all over and many pets have been killed.
As of right now it's a hands off policy unless humans are harmed or it is visibly sick. Might be time to let the cops unload some aggression at them. Lol!
Posted by NoPo Guy | November 7, 2010 12:42 PM
Thanksgiving before last I saw one on Scholl's Ferry and SW Raleighview, near my sister's house, standing right under someone's front plate glass window. It was so thin that I asked my sister for some dog food to take to it. I shoudn't have done it perhaps, but it looked so pitiful.
I don't like it that they eat cats, but they have to eat something. Is a spay/neuter program for coyotes feasible?
"Environmentalists' tend to go on and on about how coyotes are native and domestic cats aren't, but that, in my view, is a utopian argument that doesn't take present day reality into account; that is the kind of utopianism that is often aligned with scapegoating "interlopers" like cats and the rest of us who aren't native born.
Posted by Cynthia | November 7, 2010 12:50 PM
Out Hanford way, we use radioactive rabbits to track and control them.
Posted by dman | November 7, 2010 2:46 PM
all those 'cute' cats are destroying the native song and ground birds , go for it mr and mrs coyote !
Posted by billb | November 7, 2010 2:49 PM
All those cute song and ground birds are destroying the worms and bugs. Go for it, cats!
Posted by Allan L. | November 7, 2010 3:02 PM
"Is a spay/neuter program feasible?" You got to be kidding. What the heck is wrong with doing it the old fashion way, trap and shoot them?
Posted by John Benton | November 7, 2010 3:02 PM
It is interesting that if someone's pet toy poodle gets loose, animal control will capture him, hold him and, if the owner doesn't show up (or someone else doesn't adopt him), eventually destroy the poor poodle, but they won't do jack about a coyote.
Posted by Bob Wiggins | November 7, 2010 3:33 PM
"One of coyotes natural predators is a cougar," said the straight man.
Posted by Mojo | November 7, 2010 4:04 PM
Bob, would you be so kind as to please describe the poop. Seriously, how would I know if any come around unless I either see them or can identify their poop. I now know that raccoons come around at night because someone described their poop. Thank you so much.
Posted by Anon | November 7, 2010 6:20 PM
http://magickcanoe.com/farm/coyote-scat-large.jpg
Posted by dman | November 7, 2010 7:12 PM
I am pretty sure it's more than one coyote.
Posted by none | November 7, 2010 8:35 PM
When the populations become too large the pack will get distemper and die off. This can get pretty nasty and it endangers domestic pets. Please make sure your pets are vacinated.
I do find it interesting that animal control does nothing even in the more rural counties to mitigate the coyote populations.
BTW those urban chickens are a real delicacy
for the coyotes.
Posted by Portland Native...traveling the USA | November 8, 2010 4:50 AM
Killing was kindness sometimes in the Wild, Wild West, but if we have more choices now, what is wrong with policies that err on the side of life? Reducing populations through non-lethal means works for feral cats. Why not coyotes?
As for cats and ground birds, some are expert killers, but overall outdoor cats prefer rodents. I have seen this often over the years. The spay/neutered feral colony I feed now doesn't kill birds that I can tell, but I have an indoor cat who does kill birds when he manages to get out.
Posted by Cynthia | November 8, 2010 10:24 AM
Portland Native-
Many of Oregon's rural counties do not have animal control services.
Posted by Cynthia | November 8, 2010 10:26 AM
dman, many thanks for the photo of a most distinctive poop or scat for those in the know. I am sure I haven't seen any in my yard, but will be on the lookout. Thanks again.
Posted by Anon | November 8, 2010 8:21 PM