Tragedy to Nature Study

My heart is heavy writing this post. Our dog of 15 years died … like most old dogs. Sadly, he was attacked by a coyote in our fenced backyard. I wanted to take this moment to share that 1. Gus was a good dog,

and 2. How turning a bad thing into a good thing really is awesome rather than just picking fights on NextDoor.

Home Sweet Home

We live in Colorado where there are a lot of interesting wild animals. We also live along an “open space” where these interesting wild animals live as well. I’ve shared many pics on IG @laytonadventures.

We live on the corner of a street, beginning of the nature path, and a few houses down from the actual Open Space – so I never expected our backyard to be “unsafe” for our dog. From cars, crosswalk, and neighbors’ kids it’s a pretty busy & loud area. And I’ve read coyotes do not like loud noises.

Around 11:30 am my 14yr old son let the dog outback to do his business. My son walked back inside to do his own business. By the time my son returned, the dog was gone. He put on his shoes because he just assumed the dog got out of the fence. He planned on walking down the path to find our dog.

A neighbor started knocking on the front door frantically trying to tell him she watched a large coyote jump the fence and take our dog. Thankfully no one in the house saw it happen!!

It was hard to comprehend that this had happened to Gus! If that news wasn’t heartbreaking enough, an hour later from the kitchen window I thought I saw Gus’ black and white pattern running home. I ran outside quickly because I knew he’d be in bad shape if he survived the attack. As I was about to shout his name I realized what I was seeing. To my horror, the coyote was coming back to our yard – carrying Gus’ body. I started screaming and shouting “No”, “Stop” and “You jerk” loudly so it wouldn’t come back into the yard … to finish Gus. It was painfully obvious Gus had not survived. The coyote ran nonchalantly down the concrete path away from our house and then finally into the woods.

Tragedy to Nature Study

As choked up and heartbroken as we felt, we realized everything we thought we knew about coyotes wasn’t correct. When we first moved to Colorado we purchased a “Colorado Wildlife Pocket Guide“. Page 25 on coyotes shares: they primarily hunt at night and their diet consists of rodents, rabbits, snakes, berries, and insects. Berries & insects?! Our dog weighed 20lbs! According to this field guide, no mention of mating season, stalking pets, midmorning hunting, etc.

The fact that this coyote wasn’t playing by the Field Guide rules concerned me because the path behind our house leads to the elementary school where we have seen many young families walking little children and new Christmas puppies. Not to mention the guy who doesn’t have his dog on the leash or the many other neighbors who all leave their dogs outside, unattended.

I posted on NextDoor to let our neighbors know to be careful. Then I called the Parks District who encouraged me to call Colorado Wild Life. The next morning a Colorado Park Ranger called me to share more accurate details and gave me a 30 minute quick education on coyote mating season behavior over the phone. I “petitioned” for awareness / educational signage to be placed near the two rattlesnake signs along the path so other families are aware to pay attention!

I went back on NextDoor to see over 150 comments. Some sad and heartbroken for us. Some lecturing us never to leave small animals alone. And some really rude people who wrote inappropriate jokes. Who then fired up some other people to lecture them about compassion & maturity. I didn’t respond to any of it because I felt talking to the Park Rangers and getting educational signs & awareness out to the community is far more important than wasting time picking fights.

Learn More About Nature

It is a bit ironic that I just started working for Homeschool Nature Study this month trying to get families outside and learn more about nature. Boy did we have a crash course in Colorado Wildlife. I wanted my son to know more about coyotes, to be respectful of nature than to hate an animal for basically doing what predators do naturally. It’s easy to get emotional and heartbroken – Gus was a good dog and we are really going to miss him!! But I’m using the opportunity to educate my family and hopefully our neighborhood.

Some Coyote Facts – not in the field guide!

YES! This is a coyote in our neighborhood. We saw it hours after we lost Gus, but it’s not as big as the one we saw. We think this is the female mate.
Coyotes are nocturnal but during winter and mating seasons (Dec-March), they hunt earlier during the day and for larger prey to “impress” mates. Probably why it went for 20lb Gus & not a bunny.
Coyotes are very bold and will attack pets – even on leashes w/ owners nearby.
Coyotes stalk prey up to 20 minutes and pounce, crushing the windpipe. Pet owners only have 15 SECONDS to save an animal before it suffocates or dies of shock. We’re hoping it was faster for Gus & he did not suffer.
Coyotes take small prey away to their den, but larger animals hunted by a pack (goats, deer, etc.) are eaten at the attack site. I’m so thankful we did not witness that!
Coyotes will defend their den by standing outside of it to intimidate larger dogs & other animals.
Coyotes will bolt if there is a loud noise – so “hazing” is encouraged from shouting, clapping, throwing snowballs, spraying coyotes with water hoses, and even shooting them with paint guns. The park ranger said they would rather coyotes have dyed coats than be killed. Hazing helps the animal to know it has traveled too close to an unwelcome area. It is a neighbor’s responsibility to keep the neighborhood safe by “hazing” rather than ignoring wildlife that has roamed too close. The ranger pointed out most people on the paths are on their phones & not paying any attention.
The park ranger did not know why the coyote would bring Gus back. He suggested since our yard is “shady” it might have considered it a “resting place”. We’re all still very disturbed about that.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest – Benjamin Franklin.

I encourage you to be aware of the animals in your neighborhood. Back in Florida we were very aware of alligators and water snakes! Teach your children to respect nature by learning about it.

I am now more proud than ever to work for a homeschool company that is helping families by offering resources to homeschoolers! Get outside, but do it carefully & wise!