Coyote!
 

OMG! :eek: A Coyote walked right past us after school today! I always let my 3 kids (ages 6, 4, and 3) play in the playground after school. Of course, I bring Missy too (as if she'd let me get away with NOT bringing her). I'm standing there talking to this lady and a coyote walks *right* past us. I mean RIGHT past us. It was maybe 2 car lengths away from us. It cruised right past my kids and on through the entire playground. I picked Missy up the second I saw it and shoved her in my coat. Then, I grabbed my kids, who were thankfully right there beside me on the play structure, and hightailed it on out of there!

I've seen coyotes a couple of times walking up my street, but I've never been standing outside right beside one like that. Freaky! We live in the city too. After I was done being freaked out, I felt sorry for the thing. It looked so scrawny and worn. I'm sure it's just looking for food.

wow that is crazy! I would of just thought it was a dog or something lol.. Im glad no one got hurt esp Missy. What a day for you =D

It was so close that I knew for sure it wasn't a dog. I'm so glad Missy was OK too (and my kids). All that I could think was *if it would have approached us from behind rather than kind of to the side, I may not have seen it in time to pick up Missy* :(

Oh my gosh! Did you call animal control??

I always knew there was one nearby but a couple of months back as we were heading out somewhere in the car, we drove by 2 coyotes on the hunt and they were not walking down the alley ways. Yes, they are very scrawny as if they've been starved. This was a city residential block away from an elementary school and also very close by a city park. In the city, other than digging through the garbage or chasing squirrels, there are only the outdoor pets for them to target. I don't know if it's part of the same pack (maybe not since it's been quite a number of years back) but a friend's friend lost her dog to a coyote as she left him leashed outside on her yard for his evening go. Generally, you hear of the victims being stray cats or outdoor cats in general.

Glad you were quick enough to grab Missy off the ground and out of sight. I'm not sure how afraid of people they are for the city hunters, but I hope we're not the ones to find out. :2omg:

I'm not so sure animal control will respond to that immediately unless it's been repeatedly sighted there and unless it seems to be hanging around. I doubt they'd otherwise take the time to search the neighbourhood for the den. It just reminds me of the speech an ambulance operator was giving when the hubby and I had made a call in about a strange guy laying in the middle of the downtown shopping district right in front of the art gallery here bleeding out of his head and twitching on the ground. He later got up of course, stumbling away while the operator was still not anywhere closer to sending help out. :rolleyes:

Well that STINKS. Here at least they will set traps. BOO! :(

There is no animal control in my area as of the end of 2008. The contract expired and noone has bothered to renew it. I was told this when we lost our pug dog and I tried finding somewhere to call and see if she was picked up. But even if there was animal control here, I don't think that they would care. It's common knowledge that there are coyotes wandering around sometimes even though we live in the city. Our kids are even taught coyote awareness in school. I'm just so glad that Missy uses pee pads and is never outside without being on a leash.

PLease! Educate your kids on what they look like & why they should avoid them!!!

Not to say Missy's mom shouldn't try. She might be able to yield a positive response from city workers!

I wasn't aware of that. Hmm. Now who picks up the dead carcasses on the roads? There's a regular turnaround of skunk roadkills around here. And that's not counting the birds, etc. I should look up our various surrounding municipalities regarding that.

Absolutey, the first thing that I did when we got home was google images of coyotes. Then we reviewed all the papers that my son received in school earlier this year on what to do if they see a coyote. Coyotes HAVE attacked children here before. It's not a common occurence, but it has been in the news. The last incident that I remember hearing about is a littl girl playing in the front yard and feeling a nip on the back of her arm. She was bit a couple more times before the coyote took off. So they aren't harmless, that's for sure.

Okay, all I can find are warnings and tips on how to co-exist with coyotes--not who to call when you encounter them. :p

Community Services - Licensing & Inspections: Animal Control - Owning a Pet - Coyote Alert

I'm not sure, but I have noticed roadkill laying on the side of the road for days before. They said that I could call animal control in a neighbouring city if I wanted to inquire about my dog when I lost her. I just had a peek online just to be sure, and there still isn't anyone taking over animal control here. When I want to liscence Missy, I have to do it through one of the cities near me and they will only deal with liscencing or animal cruelty/neglect.

Thanks, we already went over all of that info earlier today. In Vancouver, wouldn't you just call the SPCA? We are in Port Coquitlam. I was told to use Burnaby or Vancouver SPCA for dog liscencing, or missing pets etc since Poco no longer has animal control. It is the SPCA that use to have the animal control contract here and let it expire in 2008 without bothering to renew it.

Once you start licensing her, you'll have to keep it up each year otherwise, they'll come knocking on your door to remind you. LOL ;) But I guess if you never plan to own more than the city limit of dogs, it's all good. :)

O my goodness, :eek: that is soo scary, I am glad nothing happened, I lived in California for a while and I was driving down the road one day and I saw a coyote for the first time ever and I am from Texas! But I am soo glad that ya'll are ok! I think I would have pooped my pants if I saw one that close to me!

Yeah, as bad as it sounds...I'm not terribly concerned about liscencing Missy. What concerns me is losing a pet! You either have to track down the person who's found your pet IF someone was nice enough to pick them up. Or hope that someone has driven your pet all the way to Burnaby or Vancouver to hand them in to a shelter. Scarey really. Most times, I think your dog will just end up wandering around the neighbourhood until you find them, which was the case with our pug. Lesson learned though, neither of our dogs take one step outside the house without me holding them on a leash.

Scary...and here I got upset when Winston wanted to "play" with a skunk. Luckily my husband was right there and saw the skunk's tail go up, hurried and grabbed Winston and ran for the house...just in time...yep, the skunk sprayed...that awful smell.
You did the right thing, hid your pup from it and alerted your kids to leave.

Oh man, that could have been bad! We have skunks around here too, they smell AWFUL! Glad you grabbed Winston just in time.

In the distant past, we had to go to the Vancouver City Hall to renew our dog's license. Of course, we did it for a few years and stopped because it was a huge inconvenience. LOL. Not that my parents actually made the effort to inquire if we could get it done anywhere else. And when we stopped, maybe for 2 consecutive years, they came knocking during the day when no one was home, and of course, the dog liked to answer the door himself. They slipped in a card to remind you to renew by a specified time or else. Back then, I remember there was an early renewal discount for senior citizens (60+) and it was cheaper by half.

For the shihtzu I've had for 9.5 years, we got her license through the vet we were using at the time and that's also how we renewed it... then, um, stopped. :embarasse . And it wasn't that long ago when they did go by the house we had registered her under previously to issue a reminder. :p I do recall seeing licensing available through the S.P.C.A. and I also checked before getting my yorkie girl and remember noting that there's no longer a senior discount on pets in Vancouver. :( I think sometimes it's more for the money than it is for pet population control. :p

I'm not so sure licensing them helps in finding a lost pet. Microchips help with that. I can't say for sure as I've never had the misfortune to experience losing one of my own and intend to keep it that way.

We have always had a pack behind our house for as long as I can remember. We use to see them right in our back field usually by the end of winter. When I married I moved right across the street, that same pack still live in the woods (well the siblings im sure). They have attacked, tore up and eaten our pet ducks at night right in our side yard, they were in enclosed pen that we thought was safe. My kids play in that same yard. I have never seen one that close during the day, but my kids are well aware that they are around. We can hear them hollowing in our house at night time. My kids are petrified to go out at night and the only time they will is to run to the van in the driveway with us with them. My 2 bigger dogs stay in a fenced in yard attached to my house and my little dogs stay on leash's at all times. I have heard stories of peoples pets being snatched by coyotes right in thier front yards. We have seen them in packs strolling the fields. They always look scrawny, hungry and ill. :(. Its scary. We have folks around here that actually hunt them down and kill them, there are so many of them around here that is getting out of hand.
Im so glad that you, your kids and little Missy all stayed safe, but how scary for you. ((hugs))

OMG, :eek: I am sooo glad that all your babies (skin and fur) are alright. I live in a rural area and coyotes are everywhere...we see them on the sides/center of the roads all the time. (sometimes alive/sometimes not) I hear them at least 2-3 times a week in the wee hrs of the morning howling and ya just know the pack has gotten yet another animal.

That gave me *shivers* must sound so eery. :eek: