I posted this over on another forum and thought I’d share here.
Coyotes are a huge pest around my home in Houston. I've seen and heard more coyotes on the bike trails I ride than I ever saw growing up in the hill country.
I really get a big kick out of all the lost dog signs I see in our neighborhood. It's funny (not really, actually kinda sad but I’ve never really cared for toy dogs) that all the lost dogs are those little yappy lap dogs that people seem to love. I haven't the heart to call the people up and 'splain things.
I live close to Cypress Creek in northwest Houston and mountain bike the trails that are in the flood control land. All combined, it’s probably close to a thousand acres of undeveloped land that ends up underwater about three times a year.
The plain fact is that if those little yappy lap dogs get out and run off and have to spend one night out doors, what’s left is coming out of the south end of a northbound coyote within 24 hours. I see those coyotes roaming around people's yards all the time when I'm driving around late at night. I’ve only seen a couple when riding the trails during the day but I hear them quite often running while I’m riding in the woods. I can tell they are Coyotes because their footfall pattern is faster than a deer and slower than a rabbit or squirrel and we have no stray dogs. By the time I’m stopped and looking, they are long gone.
If someone is out there on those trails and is walking their small dog, those Coyotes will attack with the dogs owner standing there holding the leash. I've heard dogs owners complain about it at the POA meetings. My answer of course is to get a real dog. At least a lab or border collie sized.
Yes, I am compassionate and do feel the pain of a loved pet that is lost but hey, we are surrounded by very dense woods and those woods are absolutely packed with all manner of wildlife. Cross Jones road off the street I live on and you better at least have a machete on you to cut through the brush or you will not get far. You also better be wearing high boots & leggings cause the copperhead and cotton mouth population is thriving. Small dogs just won’t survive a night if they get left outside or run off for a night on the town. That’s just how it is.
I really wish the coyotes had an appetite for stray cats. Stray cats we got and in abundance. Apparently, little dogs are the snack of choice.
