Daily news blog for Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood

 

Traps set to catch & kill two wandering coyotes

January 22nd, 2010 · 17 Comments

11: a.m. update: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirm that a 40 pound male coyote was trapped and killed this morning in Magnolia. “It’s unfortunate to have to take this action, but public safety is our first priority,” said Captain Bill Hebner, who heads WDFW’s enforcement program for the northern Puget Sound region. “We are confident this is the coyote that was approaching people in a dangerous manner and had attacked pets.”

The second coyote that has been seen wandering around Magnolia is believed to be a female. Hebner says the WDFW will continue to monitor her whereabouts by reports sent in by residents. The female may not pose safety risks now that the more aggressive male has been killed, the press release states.

9 a.m. update: Our news partners, The Seattle Times, is now reporting that one coyote has been killed. According to the paper, wildlife officials say the male coyote was caught in a leg trap and shot by a wildlife officer on private property early this morning. Officials are still trying to determine whether to trap and kill the second coyote that has been seen around the neighborhood.

Earlier: Officers from the Department of Fish and Wildlife along with Seattle Police are attempting to hunt and kill at least two coyotes in the Magnolia area, reports our newspartner the Seattle Times. “We determined we have a human health and safety risk,” said DFW’s Bill Hebner, who says officers are working in the morning hours to find the coyotes. “If they can secure a safe shot and be 100 percent sure, they’ll take it.”

DFW and workers from the BNSF Railway are also setting traps for the coyotes. If they catch one, they’ll “humanely dispatch it,” Hebner says.

Although Fish and Wildlife officials and Seattle Police are looking for the coyotes primarily in Magnolia and along the railroad through Interbay, given that they’ve been spotted all over Queen Anne recently, it is a possibility they are still in the area. The coyotes have been wandering Magnolia streets since  November, but were not seen in Queen Anne until recently. One of the coyotes attacked a dog on in Magnolia on January 11, who was badly injured by will recover.

DFW cites the seemingly increasing aggression of the two coyotes as reasoning for hunting them down. The agency will not attempt to move the coyotes because, as KING5 reports, once they’ve lost their natural fear of humans they cannot be successfully relocated. Hebner says the department is worried the coyotes could get more aggressive, potentially attacking humans, sighting two separate cases in East King County in 2006 when two children were attacked and needed medical attention, and another case in 2007 when a child in Kent was bit.

Out sister-site, MagnoliaVoice, will be updating on this story as it progresses.



Tags: Uncategorized

17 responses so far ↓



More News from North Seattle


  • Beatles ‘come together’ in Wallingford mural
  • New medical marijuana dispensary opens
  • Ballard named best farmers market in state
  • Orcas put on a show off Golden Gardens
  • Young beaver making a home at Golden Gardens