These are the coyotes I have seen numerous times across the street, usually upon my arrival home in our Hillcrest Estates/Preston Hollow-ish neighborhood. My neighbor snapped these pics just last week. According to what wildlife experts are telling her, they may be responsible for the killing of a 25 lb dog in our neighborhood — NOT the big bobcat another neighbor tracked.
My story on the bobcat sighting brought a KXAS-TV crew out today to check out the wildlife and contacted a wildlife expert for advice on our concerns. The expert, Bonnie Bradshaw of Wildlife 911, says Bobcats are not usually dog or cat killers — squirrels, rats and rabbits, yes; dogs and kitties, no.
Bradshaw also says that to keep the Bobcats (and coyotes) away, just make a lot of noise. Oh and they are thriving in every neighborhood in Dallas, not just Hillcrest Estates or Preston Hollow. Unlike folks in the country, we aren’t killing them, and they know it:
Most urban bobcats weigh no more than 25 pounds and hunt rabbit, rats and squirrels, according to Bradshaw. They live in urban environments rather the rural ones because cities tend to have a good food supply.
“The main reason we see so many coyotes and bobcats in broad daylight in the city is because they are very intelligent animals and they’ve learned in the city there are no consequences,” Bradshaw said, “in a rural area, if a bobcat or coyote shows itself around people – it gets shot, it gets eliminated from the gene pool – but coyotes and bobcats in the city have learned that people are no threat. They show themselves in the middle of the day and all that happens is they get their picture taken.”
The bobcat my neighbor caught on film is impressive, but I bet it’s the coyotes who are killing our pets. KXAS also reports that a coyote has bitten a teenager in a Grapevine movie theater parking lot. The 15 year old boy who was bitten says the coyote came out of the bushes behind the theater and came at him. He threw his shoe at the creature to scare it off, but it came back and bit his toes. The boy is undergoing medical treatment and taking antibiotics.
This is very concerning, but most wildlife experts say it is very, very unusual for coyotes to attack humans.
But with more of them out there, and in packs, you have to wonder… are they just getting more brazen?
