Yeah, not funny, Gorgon. I’m just glad you don’t hate kids.
Sorry for your loss, Sid. When I first moved out West, I didn’t believe folks about the coyotes either, until a friend of mine told me the same thing had happened to her cat.
Daniel
When Mrs.Phlosphr and I moved to AZ for Grad School we were told that you can tell which neighborhoods were the newest, or had the most ‘immigrants’ in it by the amount of ‘lost cat’ signs on telephone poles…Mrs.Phlosphr is neurotic about not letting our cats out. And we don’t even live in AZ anymore.
By the way you don’t live in Phoenix do you. Lots of Coyote’s on south mountain…we lived right next to it.
**He had no chance against predators who hunt in packs. **
IIRC…coyotes are solitary hunters, not pack animals like wolves.
But that doesn’t make this any less sad.
IDBB
That’s correct, IDDB. From my encyclopedia:
Coyotes are apparently extremely adaptable creatures. I hear they can live anywhere, even in the midst of a city, as long as there is reasonable prey and cover. I’ve heard, but can’t confirm, that they’ve been spotted even in downtown areas of Toronto. If that’s true, could be due to the many ravines and green spaces that thread through Toronto and the GTA.
In my own neighbourhood, east of Toronto, I’ve heard them having “hootenannies” at night. They sounded like nothing less than a couple of lunatics running through the streets. (They may have been chasing something through the greenspace behind our house. ) Hair-raising sound to wake up to in the middle of the night. One of my neighbours heard it also and was skeptical that it was coyotes, he thought it must have been a pack of stray dogs. :rolleyes:
We’ve seen quite a lot of wildlife in the area, even deer right down by the beach. (North shore of Lake Ontario) All the usual woodland critters can be found here, including foxes, racoons, badgers, various raptor birds and of course all their prey animals: Gophers, squirrels, smaller birds, etc. One morning on the way to work, we watched a pair of coyotes mousing in a field adjacent to a public park, maybe 500 feet or so away from the road: They jump into the air and come down with forepaws on the mice. They were quite intent on it and showed no interest in the people watching from afar.
I’ve been told, but again can’t confirm, that there is a small wolf population here. There are several wildlife corridors leading into and out of the GTA. North of the GTA, although it is being developed more day by day, there are huge swathes of cottage country, dotted with cities and towns, interspersed with crown land and wilderness. It just doesn’t seem impossible that even large predator animals like wolves could be patrolling their ancient territories, maybe following prey migrations or populations. Even as far down to the lake here, where it is more heavily populated by humans.
Given all that, if I had cats there’s no way they’d be allowed outside. Even a racoon could be a formidable opponent for a cat.
The last time I checked this thread, tunabreath was the last person that posted. I thought it had died.
Thanks for the sympathy, all. And for the info on coyotes.
Still haven’t told my daughter yet. We plan on telling her that her kitty ran away, or some variation on the theme.
Phlosphr-we actually live in CA, just across the river from Parker, AZ.
Coyotes are defintely a problem around here. There are times when they advise people with small dogs to stay away from certain areas; not that that helps. Saw one trotting peacefully down a street right in the middle of downtown Calgary.
Tatiana beat me to it. Small dogs are also victims to rogue coyotes her as well. We have a Yorkie and I just cringe every time he want’s out when we have heard of a coyote in the neighborhood.
I’m so sorry for your family’s loss Sidd. Best wishes to you in explaining this all to your little one.
If you decide to get another cat at some point in the future, kittens can be taught rather well to be “inside” cats. Even my vet recommends that cats be trained to be inside because of the perils of the outdoors (ticks, fleas, etc.)
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Yes, just tell your daughter that kitty must of found a new home.
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Understand outside vs inside argument for cats but I just couldn’t pen Jumpie, The Warehouse Cat, inside. I put in a cat door which she used many times to outrun a foe in a terriorial dispute. Think this: http://www.quantumpicture.com/Flo_Control/flo_control.htm was a Weird Earl’s site.
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Cats can be better than dogs. See http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19990429/ile29083.html .
I guess now probably isnt’ the best time fora joke about God killing kittens is it?
Huh… I’m in Calgary like Tatiana, and have seen coyotes bounding about in residential areas. This past summer I spent about an hour getting teased by a coyote in a field with tall grass in the middle of the afternoon. He never let me get closer than a hundred yards, and would do the show-off “catch me if you can sucker” bouncing through the grass when I’d start following him. I found a lot of… let’s just say evidence that he hunted a fair bit in that field - enough to know that a couple people in the area had pets go missing :(.
The most interesting time I saw one was when I was parked at night by the dam (naturally with a river valley behind it). Saw a guy walking his dog on a leash through the park in front of me. Turned my lights on to leave and lit up a coyote following them about 30 yards back… just waiting for the guy to let the dog off the leash. Coyote slowed down, looked back my direction with those spooky luminescent green eyes… I glanced away for some reason and the thing was gone. Neither party being stalked had a clue.
When I was in the LA area every once in a while you’d hear about somebody’s dog, out towards the edge of town, that was eaten by coyotes. It turned out that a lot of these dogs had been staked out in the yard. We’re talking “COYOTES, COME AND GET IT!!!”
I’m sorry about your kitty. You certainly weren’t dumb enough to tie her out where she could be caught. But if I were you, I’d keep any future cats indoors.
Coyotes will hunt in packs, especially in areas where the primary prey items are large ( particularly in the winter ). They just don’t do so commonly and the structure is looser than is found in wolf packs. Typically when it occurs it is a sort of delayed dispersal, with a dominant mated pair and one or two generations of their young. Some studies have shown that the pack-structure is more important as a food-resource defense function, than as a cooperative hunting venture.
Couple of cites:
Bekoff, M. And M.C. Wells. 1981. Behavioral Budgeting By Wild Coyotes: The Influence of Food Resources and Social Organization. Animal Behavior. 29: 794-801.
Bekoff, M. and M.C. Wells. 1980. The Social Ecology of Coyotes. Scientific American. 242: 130-148.
Siddhartha Vicious: My condolenses for your and your family’s loss.
- Tamerlane
:,(
Yet another reason I don’t let my kitties outside.
I’m sorry for your loss, Siddhartha.
Hmm, even 10 years ago people were using “of” to replace “have”.
Oops! Zombie cat!:smack:
Of course you’re sure. Because her slowly starving to death and dying of exposure because she can’t hunt or find shelter for herself is a terrible thing to think you did to your pet. Euthanasia would have been so much worse than dying that way or by getting her spine ripped out by a predator. Good job, pat yourself on the back for taking such good care of your cat. :rolleyes:
I’m going to lock this zombie and ban the troll.