Posted on 01/13/2024 2:47:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
Don’t tell Roger Shuman lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice.
Shuman, who lost his 12-year-old Chihuahua, Ginger, to a coyote Aug. 3, lost another dog to the same coyote in December. Both attacks happened in the backyard of his Quail Creek home.
Betsy, an 8-year-old Chihuahua mix, died at a veterinary hospital a couple of days after the Dec. 10 attack.
“He got her by the throat, beat her on the ground and kept shaking her,” Shuman said of the coyote, which he described as “20 to 30 percent larger than a typical coyote.”
“When I got to her, there was no sign of life… I couldn’t see her chest rising or falling. I assumed she was dead."
When he saw Betsy twitch, he knew she was still alive and took her to an vet emergency facility. The dog appeared to be getting better but then began having difficulty breathing despite two days in an oxygen tent.
“They told me she was never going to be the same,” he said. “That made it easier to pull the plug.”
Shuman only saw the coyote from a distance but a neighbor confirmed it was likely the same oversized animal from August, which has often been seen in the neighborhood.
Shuman said he had changed how long and when he’d allow his two other dogs to be in the backyard after Ginger died in August. He closed the doggie door before sunset and didn’t open it until about an hour after sunrise. For several months, there were no problems, he said, noting his property doesn’t back up to a golf course, wilderness area or arroyo.
“I thought that was a freak thing,” he said of the August attack. “I didn’t see the coyotes roaming the streets like before.”
It’s only anecdotal, but based on conversations with other residents and what he sees on the golf course, Shuman says there are 50 coyotes roaming Quail Creek at any given time. He blames it in part on a recent proliferation of rabbits.
“They’re not afraid of people. They’re getting bolder, they really are," he said, noting it's not uncommon to see coyotes in the middle of the day in Quail Creek. "Each time they go out, they expand their hours and expand their territories.”
“I never felt threatened until this year,” he added.
Betsy and Ginger aren’t the only losses Shuman has experienced in Quail Creek. In March 2020, he lost a Chiweenie dog after it was startled by an approaching golf cart and jumped into the golf cart lane and was struck.
Shuman recently adopted a Dachshund-Chihuahua mix from Arizona Small Dog Rescue in Phoenix. Bert is a puppy and still not house trained so spends time in the backyard. Shuman isn’t comfortable with it, but he said there's no getting around it.
As for his other dog, Buddy, a Chihuahua-Rhodesian Ridgeback, “He can handle himself,” Shuman said. “I think the coyote would not take him on, he’d think he met his equal.”
Shannon’s Law...supposed to be about celebratory gunfire but bastardized and expanded. Really bad. Attempts to change have failed as far as I know. Hell, I can shoot to protect my dogs and I live in God forsaken illannoy!
Horned owl about a year old born next door but he’s big
Keep a .22 rifle at the back door in coyote country.
And always watch your pets.
Even big dogs are killed by coyotes.
A mastiff stands no chance against a pack of 4 or 5. He’ll bleed out before they eat him.
Guy needs to sit out on the back porch or window with a scoped 22 rifle.
I use a .223 and a backhoe.
Boy that is heartbreaking. I would be nervous to let my dogs out if I didn’t have a fence. My neighbors lost a dog to coyotes a few years ago. My buddy’s mom in law also lost a dog to a coyote last year.
I live in a rural subdivision and have a huge open field about 2 blocks to the west of me and is regularly full of coyotes. My neighbor buddy sits on his deck which overlooks the field and takes shots at the coyotes after dark. He has a thermal scope on his suppressed rifle and he gets mad when the coyotes mess with the deer.
The Ruger Ranch Rifle was made for just that scenario.
I don't even want to know how that was accomplished.
It might not be safe to shoot at a coyote in a subdivision.
A friend of mine has an Akbash, she doesn’t have problems with coyotes.
I live in a rural area of Arkansas and my 125 lb Great Pyranese considers Coyotes bad actors. He is on patrol every day on my property. Only one Coyote got close enough during daylight hours - that is rare by the way, for my Pyr to run him down, grab the Coyote by the hind quarters and throw him over a fence. The Coyote hobbled off and must have spread the word not to get close to that big white dog aka Winchester.
The problem is never one coyote. It is an attacking pack.
Shot first and take your chances with a jury!
That man is STUPID and LAZY, and his poor tiny doggies paid the price. He never should have let them out in his yard alone and unarmed. He should have made a fully enclosed run for them and then he’d still have them around. Poor doggies.
Quail Creek is a gated community in a populated area. You can't be shooting off firearms. The lots are typical suburban sized, so you have neighbors all around you. And an HOA that would never allow you to build an enclosure in the back. It's not like living off-grid in the middle of Alaska where your nearest neighbor is 100 miles away.
We have a winter house in Green Valley and you can hear the coyotes yipping away pretty much every night. Our neighbors have two little chihuahuas they let out at night. I’m surprised they haven’t made a midnight snack yet. Our 80 lb black Lab is always on the alert and would bark immediately if one came into our back yard, so I’m not worried about her.
I was given a miniature long hair Chihuahua when she was about four, the previous owner was working long hours the kids were in school and the dogs buddy, a st bernard) passed away and this little girl Chihuahua was all alone and the lady of the house gave the dog to me.
She was a good girl, she was tiny and I would never let her out alone, and always leashed. It got me out of the house for a quick mile lap around the block.
I imagine if I lived in an area with coyotes, and we do have some around here, I would probably get a compact pit, something tough as nails. And if the coyotes were really bad, I’d get a brace of pits.
He’ll be lured by a female in heat, then ambushed by a pack.
He won’t stand a chance.
Be very, very careful.
I would have lawyer pick all dog owners for jury!
An Irish Wolfhound eats coyotes for breakfast. Donkeys will kill them, too.
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