Reader Ronnie Lewis sent us this email about coyotes in their Deodara/Santa Rosa neighborhood:
Coyotes continue to be a big problem in our area. A few weeks ago, while my daughter was (at night) walking from the kitchen door outside to the garage, she did not realize that our little Yorkie had slipped out until she heard a scream out front and ran down the driveway as our Yorkie ran past her being chased by two large coyotes. They took off after seeing my daughter.
Then last weekend while my husband was sitting on our backyard patio and the Yorkie playing in the yard, a huge coyote jumped over our back fence. Luckily, our Yorkie once again was saved. They are clearly stalking her now that they know that she is here.
After the first incident my husband took her to a local vet just to make sure that she was okay, and one of the girls in the office mentioned that based on the large size of the coyotes that they have seen and been told about it appears that they may have been inbreeding with wild dogs. Not sure about this hypothesis, but it is clear that they continue to be a major problem. When I called LA County Animal Control a few weeks ago they stated that there is nothing that they can do except give out the number of private companies that homeowners can pay to have come out and trap the coyotes.
