Pack animal hunters hone their craft to a science. The way wolves use pack strategy to isolate and bring down large and powerful prey, which may outweigh a single wolf by up to 10 to 1, is truly fascinating to study.
Our local coyotes are just as cunning and skilled at hunting smaller prey like our domesticated puppies and kitties.
Coyotes are faster than greased lightning when they make their move on undefended dogs, cats and other domesticated pets in our neighborhoods. But before they make their blazing fast moves, they practice a kind of patient and cunning strategy to find and isolate our pets.
My daughter Heather is a professional pet sitter and dog walker, and she has stories to share about watching coyotes on the prowl and how they organize.
One recent morning she was walking a small dog near her customer’s home in Montecito. Ever watchful, she spotted a coyote sitting by itself in an open area.
That coyote’s head was turning every which way, looking for dogs, cats, bunnies, squirrels, and just about any small mammals, reptiles or birds. This was the pack’s designated lookout, and its packmates were silently prowling nearby streets and properties to look for accessible pets and wild critters they could flush.
Heather pulled her puppy close to her and kept herself between the coyote and the pup, even at a 50-yard distance, to keep her charge safe. Knowing the pack was hunting aggressively, she returned to the house and kept the puppy with her.
Even when she lets a dog in her care go out into the yard, she stays right with it to ward off any coyotes, bobcats or cougars. If you want to make arrangements with a skilled and watchful pet sitter and walker, Heather’s e-mail is heatherraedunning@gmail.com.
My own neighborhood is hunted about every four days by a pack of coyotes. The most common periods are dawn and dusk when there are dark shadows where they can hide and watch and prowl unseen. That is when dogs and cats need to be kept inside or closely accompanied by an adult human.
One of my neighbors has a chicken coop in their back yard, and it acts as a coyote magnet thanks to the sounds and the smells. I admit I wouldn’t mind too much if the coyotes got the loud rooster. Sorry, not sorry!
The owners have a tall sturdy fence, so the coop is protected from coyotes. Bobcats or cougars from the nearby creek, however, could easily make it over that fence.
Constant diligence is required to keep our pets safe. We humans tend to see the civilized part of life, but wild critters keep the hunt alive, and our neighborhoods make it relatively easy for them.
