SEATTLE — A sudden increase in coyote encounters has left residents worried another attack could happen in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood.
Last week, a woman was bit trying to rescue her dog from a coyote attack near Kerry Park.
“I already had run-ins with the coyotes, so I just thought that’s gonna start happening a lot more often,” said resident Rachel Alves.
Alves shared a video with KIRO 7 of when she spotted a coyote in David Rodgers Park in Queen Anne.
She tried to scare it off, but the coyote rushed toward people near the street.
“There’s a couple and it’s like right next to them and now it’s waiting. They’re so smart. It waits for the car to go to cross the street,” Alves explained.
Alves said these sightings have become a new normal in her neighborhood. In the last month and a half, she said a coyote had run right up to her.
“A dog, I thought, came running up to us, just like 4 feet away from us, and I looked and like that’s not a dog that’s a coyote,” Alves explained. “It looked very happy like it wanted to play with us and so I tried to shoo it and then it came one step closer and then I called my dogs, and as soon as I did that it ran away.”
Alves is usually at the park with her dog, Lucy. She says the coyotes don’t seem to be afraid of them at all.
“They’ve been close, they don’t seem scared, so it is kind of one of those things. What should we do?” asked Alves.
Jeff Patterson has lived in Queen Anne for 20 years. He told KIRO 7 that he’s never seen so many in such a short amount of time.
“Their frequency has definitely increased, and again, sort of their lack of fear of humans,” said Patterson.
He had his own close call with a coyote with his corgi, Falcor Stubbins.
“Falcor was looking outside of the car at it, and they were sort of like scoping each other out. Definitely interested in each other and the coyote did not appear to be, you know, intimidated or anything. It was just sort of waiting for us to get out of the car,” Patterson explained.
This type of behavior gives him reason to believe it can escalate at any moment.
“If it happened once, it can happen again,” said Patterson.
According to the Washington State Fish & Wildlife Police (WDFW), coyotes are most active at night and during the early morning and evening hours.
If you encounter a coyote, WDFW Police advises:
- Don’t run away from it! Stand tall, make eye contact with the coyote, and shout at it.
- Throw something at it to scare it away.
- Make loud noises, wave sticks, and squirt it with a hose if it approaches.