Eastern Sierra

Eastern Sierra
Eastern Sierra snow October 2010

Monday, June 25, 2012

It was bound to happen...2 women bitten by coyotes

Yes, that's right.  Two women were bitten by coyotes in the same development, Sun City, where my aunt lives...sigh...
Here's the link to the local story:
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120625/NEWS08/120625010/Two-women-bitten-by-coyotes-Palm-Desert-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
The coyotes that I've seen have been curious, but not threatening.  They ARE afraid of me.  If I stand still, I can observe them, but they always take off if I move toward them.  It seems to me that coyotes lose their fear IF/WHEN people feed them.  And, I heard that the coyotes where I walk have scraps thrown out for them to feed on...so I am careful.  While I don't wish to be bitten, I also don't wish harm to come to them, especially if they have pups.
Any ideas/suggestions?

4 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i would certainly carry a thick stick. other than that, no idea.

KT said...

I always am very careful when I see them on walks with my dogs. While my dogs are large (55 and 65 lbs), I still wonder if they might see them as a threat.

We have a local fox these days too. One morning, I think it followed us on our two mile walk...I kept seeing it over and over. I sort of think it was assessing if we were a threat. It was in our driveway on Saturday early morning and the dogs when crazy in the house. We later apologized to our neighbor who said he didn't hear our dogs barking, but that the fox was on the other side of his house (two doors down from us) all night making all sorts of noise!

Inger said...

Our coyotes are wild and afraid of us, as they should by. I've only had one following us, making threatening noises and that was when my dog was injured and limping. I think he saw Soldier as a prey, but the rest of his pack were too scared and took off. I saw on TV how they adapt when developments take over their land and kill pets and injure children. I never heard of adults bitten before. I have no advice. It never occurred to me that one might think about biting me. A big stick, perhaps, but that would be hard when you want to take pictures.

Spare Parts and Pics said...

I admire you for observing the coyotes and learning as much as you can about them, while at the same time being cautious. I think using a hiking pole is always a good idea... good to take pressure off the knees, probe for snakes, and even fend off a coyote if need be!