The local TV station is reporting that a dog may have been killed by a coyote Sunday night in Fairfax, Virginia.
A dog has died after a suspected coyote attack in Annandale, Va. overnight on Sunday, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
The dog is thought to have been attacked after the dog's owner let it out in the backyard to use the bathroom. The suspected attack happened in the 7000 block of Bradley Circle.
The owners couldn't find the dog for a few hours until it was found dead just outside the yard. Police say an animal, matching the description of a coyote, has been seen in the area before and after the dog was attacked.
Wildlife officials say their has been an increase in coyote reporting in recent weeks in the Fairfax County area.
As a general rule, when you hear hoof beats, assume horses and not zebras. In this case, I would assume another dog did the killing and not a coyote, especially after looking at the suburban neighborhood where this was supposed to have occurred, which is full of other food resources from bird feeders to trash cans. But could it be a coyote? Sure.
For the record, every county in Virginia and Maryland (as well as the District of Columbia) has coyote in them, and pet attacks are very rare.
3 comments:
As you note, there are definitely coyote around locally, including my DC/Maryland suburb (Bethesda) which is becoming quite populous. Even so, small dogs have been attacked twice in my neighborhood since I moved here-- a Chihuahua mix (caught on camera) and another time a poodle (at the end of a leash whilst being walked), so this story is getting a lot of attention on my local listserv. I understand that the Virginia dog was a Maltese, which, like the other dogs I mention is generally < 10 lbs. (practically a cat).
I grew up north of San Diego, and coyote attacks were so commonplace with our neighbor's cats that they were essentially disposable. By that I mean every few months we'd hear a bloodcurdling fight in the dark distance, and the next day notice the absence of their cat, followed very shortly thereafter by a new replacement. You'd think this might suggest to the owners that letting their cats outdoors at night wasn't entirely sound, but you would be mistaken. They went through five (yes, 5) this way, before eventually switching to a border collie nearly as touched in the head (it developed an interesting interspecies friendship with a skunk they allowed to live under their house for several years, among other things).
One of my current neighbors suggested it could be a fox, which I'm not sure is likely --unless there was something seriously wrong with it(?) I didn't think foxes attacked dogs (out of nowhere) unless rabid, or similar. Are there any other possibilities?
You should be a fan of coyotes based upon your views of free roaming cats.
http://insider.si.edu/2015/06/cats-dont-roam-in-places-coyotes-call-home/
coyotes attacking, killing and eating pet dogs and cats occurs all the time out here in California... city or country.
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