Coyote in my backyard ate the neighborhood cat (warning graphic images)

[Intrepid Berkeley Explorer]

I used to live in a cat house, with over a dozen of them, and the feline owner, now moved elsewhere, treated the cats as her children. They were free to be inside or outside cats as they chose, thanks to a cat door. There were no coyotes and some cats acted as predators. Others brought live rats into the house as their own pets. We went into a "rat rescue" mode.

Some sympathy for the dead cat is reasonable, but that does not detract from the great photography of a coyote's successful hunt.

[AgingEyes]

Cototes are afraid of humans as a rule. You have the same chance of being chased by a stray poodle as being chased by a coyote. I eat steaks, but don't eat the rancher

It can still happen:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Musi...led/index.html


I once ran into a coyote without knowing it in my neigbourhood while walking home after work. I wasn't sure what it was and for some reason I started jogging towards it. That four leg fellow just turned and started running away. The other one went out from a back alley and it also started running away.. That told me they were not dogs

[billy320]

Nice pictures yet disturbing, I have 2 cats both stay indoors, however I do have beagle and if a coyote ever came near him he would definilty defend himself but I always have my 30.30 winchester nearby and ready to be loaded. I am not a hunter I only go target shooting, but I will take a life to defend what I love.

[DGK*CRONE]

Awesome!!! Hate to see anything die but it is the circle of life.Great job on all of these!!!

agreed. very good job.

[mrsartz]

I realize this post is old but still I am compelled to reply.

First let me say that the pics are great but they do bring bitter sweet thoughts to my head.

My cat used to be an indoor/outdoor cat. She's now 10 years old and we lived in the city almost all of her life where she was pretty much at the top of the food chain and was savvy about staying clear of dogs and other cats. She's not very social at all. We have her fixed, micro-chipped & all of her shots up to date. She wears a collar that she's worn for almost 10 years with rabies and ID tags.

With that all said...we've since moved to a home that sits on a couple acres in the mountains of Central PA. We let her out up until about 4 months ago when she was presumably attacked by a coyote. She didn't come home for 3 days which was very unusual and when she did come home she had a piece of meat torn from her scruff and puncture wounds on her sides.

I only guess coyote because they do come around this area and she stays away from dogs and other cats. Our property is large enough to accommodate her hunting grounds. Our closest neighbors on one side do not have dogs and the neighbors on the other side don't have dogs that want to kill/eat cats. It was definitely some kind of canine that stalked her with the size of the woulds she had. We tossed other possible ideas around like bear or bobcat, which have been spotted right in our area recently but coyote seems the most likely.

Anyways, we're super glad she made it home and now we keep her inside like it or not. We can guarantee a mouse/small critter proof house anyways.