San Anselmo neighbors warned about uptick in coyote sightings
SAN ANSELMO, Calif. (KGO) -- Coyote concerns have reached a new level in Marin County as the animals are being blamed for attacking some pets.
Devon Lydecker says she lost her dachshund mix named Cairo to coyotes.
"When I was sick he would lay by my side and when he cried he would lick my tears," Lydecker said.
She has home surveillance video showing the routine morning, two weeks ago, when she let Cairo outside, just before two Coyotes moved in on him.
"I did not see them take him in the video, but you hear it," Lydecker said.
Such incidents are becoming fairly common in a community where humans and coyotes share the same territory. Stewart Barbee lost his cat, Asia. "She was taken off the front porch. Coyote came through like a freight train. Gone."
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Hence a movement by some Marin County residents who want the county to keep the coyotes away.
"This is wrong," said Peter Hensel of Corte Madera. "We should not have coyote dens in communities. They take their prey and have lost their fear of people."
According to MarinHumane.org, that is as much the humans' fault as the coyotes."We should not be vilifying and persecuting animals that are native to Marin," said Camilla Fox, who runs ProjectCoyote.org.
"Don't leave food out," said Cindy Machado of the Marin Humane Society. If you encounter a coyote, "Haze them by screaming, clapping loudly, a super-soaker from kids works great. But do not physically attack them."
In a word, experts tell us to adjust and keep your beloved pets in sight.
"They never found him," said Devon Lydecker of Cairo. "He was six pounds."
