Combative Coyotes: Neighbors arm up to defend themselves

SEATTLE — Coyotes continue to run rampant in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood.

Residents are not only reporting more sightings, but some say coyotes are becoming more aggressive.

“There’s more of them and they’re more aggressive and they don’t scare away,” said longtime resident Maria Howie.

Howie told KIRO 7 she encountered a coyote while walking her chihuahua on Wednesday around 9 a.m. She said she made loud noises to scare it away but it didn’t work.

“It starts making its way towards me. My dog is on a leash, so I immediately get my taser out and I start tasing the air. It drops back 10-15 feet to the side of the house and I’m walking trying to get out of there and then it comes back again,” said Howie.

She said she sounded her taser three more times, but it wasn’t until other neighbors came out yelling that the coyote ran away.

“It’s like you can make all the noises, scream at it all you want, and they’re not scared anymore,” Howie explained. “With all the people walking dogs in this neighborhood that are smaller, all the kids in this neighborhood that are smaller... I’m concerned that someone’s gonna get hurt again.”

Two weeks ago, a woman was bit trying to rescue her dog from a coyote attack near Kerry Park.

Howie’s boyfriend, Thomas Gylfoile, told KIRO 7 he had a close call with a coyote in August. He said he was walking their other chihuahua, Sammy, when a coyote walked up and stared them down.

“I picked him [Sammy] up and he’s still coming and it looks like he was gonna go for him in my arms. So, I lunged towards it and I was going to kick the coyote in the head because I don’t know what else to do,” Gylfoile said.

Gylfoile is urging other residents to take these encounters seriously. He responded to the people who say the coyotes have been there for years and are not that bad.

“If you haven’t been there and seen the coyote’s eyes lock onto your pet and then come straight towards you… then you don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

According to the Washington State Fish & Wildlife Police (WDFW), coyotes are most active at night and during the early morning and evening hours.

WDFW says feeding the coyotes or giving them access to garbage or pet food could cause them to lose their fear of people.

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