Comments on: Coyote bait

By: Pit bulls, dog fights, and real estate « Funny about Money

Pit bulls, dog fights, and real estate « Funny about Money — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:09:17 +0000

[...] to pepper spray and blows from a well-aimed kick or stick, poses far more risk to Cassie than do our urban coyotes, which are fairly easy for an adult human to scare [...]

By: threadbndr

threadbndr — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:01:29 +0000

I have seen coyotes in the ‘wild’ area along the interstate just two blocks from our house. I actually had to call the critter people in for racoons denning in my fireplace chimney last year. And Miss Molly has had a close and angry confrontation with an opossum in my compost bin! (Which scared the bejesus out of me because she very seldom even barks, let alone go into full on agression mode!)

A good stout walking stick is a necessity – defense against canine agressors and the two legged dogs, too.

By: Humane, inexpensive dog collar « Funny about Money

Humane, inexpensive dog collar « Funny about Money — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:55:10 +0000

[...] Cassie the Corgi. Her collar is loose enough that she can easily slip it, and I realized that if our coyote friend had noticed her instead of being intent on some other prey, she might have wriggled loose during a [...]

By: Chance

Chance — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:05:16 +0000

What a wonderful photo! I think coyotes are so beautiful. One Christmas day, I was standing on the balcony of my fathers house in an upscale gated community in SoCal when I spotted a coyote trotting down the street with a very fluffy clearly purbred Persian cat in its mouth, aka dinner. I felt bad for the (dead) cat, but liked seeing the wildness right on the street. We have coyotes up here in VT as well, but they grow fat on abundent squirrels and bunnies and don’t go after pets so much.

By: copyeditorsdesk

copyeditorsdesk — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:33:49 +0000

Yeah, there are a fair number of fox around north Phoenix. My father used to live at the old-folkerie at 16th Street and Morten, where they saw foxes all the time.

Surprisingly, another urbanized wild critter in the Phoenix area is the badger. I didn’t even know they lived in the low desert. Lo, they most certainly do! Some friends in Moon Valley had one raid their koi pond: it left characteristic badger footprints in the soil around the pond while it was dining on fish. Turns out there’s quite a few living in the city.

These wild predators and scavengers will go after some fellow travelers that we’d like to be rid of, in particular the roof rat. Interestingly, I haven’t seen any roof rats around since our doggy friends moved in. But they also will take care of stray cats, so you should keep your tabby indoors. And keep those succulent poodles and wiener (yum!) dogs on the leash.

BTW, whatever you do, don’t feed coyotes, foxes, and other wild critters! This causes them to lose their fear of humans, and that’s not safe for them or for us. And don’t leave cat food or dog food out on the back porch: it’s free coyote food. A coyote can jump a 13-foot wall, so our six-footers are as nothing.

By: quietrunning

quietrunning — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:05:42 +0000

There was a gray fox running up and down our residential street near Central and Missouri two weeks ago. A very strange sight indeed. I couldn’t believe my eyes but found that two other neighbors saw it too.