Pack of coyotes mobs dog on front lawn as attacks mount in Calgary

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Lucas Ramage was stunned to find his Yorkshire terrier mobbed by a pack of five coyotes on the front lawn of his inner-city home earlier this month.

“We were letting (Chewbacca) do his business on our front lawn and I heard a strange noise, went outside and saw him surrounded by a pack of coyotes,” said Ramage, who’s lived at the Briar Hill residence for 15 years.

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“When I went to disperse them, they hesitated for a moment, then ran away.”

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But 12-year-old Chewbacca suffered bites to his back, sides, neck and stomach in the Oct. 17 encounter.

“If I’d been a minute longer, he wouldn’t be with us anymore,” said Ramage, who took his dog to a veterinarian where the pet was treated for five days before being released.

Ramage said he’s been aware of the presence of coyotes in his neighbourhood but never witnessed such an experience that nearly killed his dog.

“I should have known better but, in all these years, we’ve never had incidents,” he said.

He said it’s a wake-up call to be more vigilant about his dog, adding he’s worried about the danger to toddlers in the area.

Mary-Jane Pawelek said she’s convinced her cat, Benny, which she’d rescued from homelessness, was a victim of a coyote after he failed to return to her Brentwood home in 2020. All she found of the cat was blood and hair.

“I needed to have a little support animal at that time, I was inconsolable,” she said.

Since then and right up to this year, “there were four or five other cats in the same area that were just gone, you just know it was coyotes . . . they were in my neighbour’s yard,” she said.

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She noted a man living two blocks away in Charleswood Heights found his cat mutilated on his front lawn after a nearby work crew raised the alarm that coyotes were attacking it.

Pawelek said she often sees coyotes roving the park on the same street where that cat was killed.

“Every time I see one, it brings back memories (of Benny),” she said.

“I’ve now got a slingshot if I ever see (one close by), not that it would kill it.”

City officials, she said, told her they were aware of a den not far from her neighbourhood, which borders Nose Hill Park.

Those same officials say highly adaptable coyotes are a regular presence within the city, and are beneficial to the local ecosystem as natural predators.

But they’ve also noted some residents have fed them, causing dangerous habituation.

In 2021, provincial Fish and Wildlife staff and contractors captured and killed a coyote they believed had bitten and chased several people in the Tuscany area.

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Another coyote suspected of aggressive behaviour toward humans in the Nolan Hill neighbourhood was euthanized and the carcasses of both animals tested for rabies.

The city says it received 10 reports of coyote activity in the Briar Hills area during October that included one attack, and that wildlife management contractors are conducting daily patrols in the area.

So-called “hazing” techniques, including loud noises or other unpleasant experiences, are used by city staff to discourage coyotes from approaching humans, city spokeswoman Kaila Lagran said in an email.

“The city supports and encourages peaceful co-existence with coyotes through public education and, if needed, proactive management,” Lagran said, adding much of the role for keeping pets safe rests with their owners.

“To reduce the chance of a negative encounter, residents should watch over pets and keep dogs leashed at all times, and in off-leash areas keep your dog in view and under control.”

Residents are advised not to leave children unattended, to give coyotes a wide berth, ensure garbage is placed in secure bins and clean up after their pets.

Calgarians can submit reports on coyotes by calling 311 or do so online.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

X: @BillKaufmannjrn

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