The most recent West Seattle coyote reports shared by WSB readers:

*From Greg this morning: “Saw a few coyotes today at Brandon and 29th along the Longfellow Creek entrance.” [map]

*From Christopher on Saturday afternoon: “Pretty sure I just saw a coyote in the alley between Fauntleroy and 39th and Graham and Morgan.” [map]

*From Karen on Friday: “2 coyotes seen on 98th & 39th Ave SW, 5:30 pm Friday Oct. 18th, just 2 blocks off the top of Fauntleroy Park.” [map]

*From Chris, also early Friday evening: “Just saw a lone coyote poking around in the alley behind our house at 30th and Webster. It headed off down Webster.” [map]

*And on Thursday, Rachael reported that her “neighbor just saw a coyote on 10th & Elmgrove in Highland Park.” [map]

To wrap up this roundup, something new: Ron, who reads WSB daily from his residence in Mexico, sends “coyote news from elsewhere” on occasion. This week, he e-mailed a link from TV’s “Dog Whisperer,” headlined Five Ways to Keep Your Dogs Safe From Coyotes.

Four sightings reported in the past (almost) 24 hours:

*Just called in this morning, “big male coyote at 50th and Graham.” [map]

And three in eastern West Seattle:

*Jonel e-mailed late last night: “Just saw a coyote running down the sidewalk on SW Webster between 16th and 14th. [map] He ran when he saw humans.”

*Jeff saw one “standing in our driveway” around 1 pm Saturday, “6000 block of 17th SW. [map] Ran away when our dog started barking.”

And Kellie reported that her son saw what might have bene the same one on Saturday afternoon while “walking on 17th from the path by Duwamish Housing, up the Graham stairs towards 16th and SSCC.” [map]

Scaring them away is best for them and you, so they are conditioned to keep a healthy distance from humans (and their pets), as advised by state wildlife authorities (if you’ve never followed that link we usually include with coyote reports, it’s got lots of other good advice too).

Out of the WSB inbox this afternoon, from Ann Marie:

There’s a couple running around right now around 28th/27th & Kenyon. [map] I’ve seen them twice now this afternoon…bring your cats in!

As always – we share this “coexisting with coyotes” info including how to scare one off if you see one (or two!).

Thanks to Shawn for sharing news of this sighting:

I just wanted to inform everyone that at 6:45 am this morning I ran into a coyote at the corner of 36th & Brandon [map]. It headed toward Fairmount (Playfield). Please let the neighborhood know to keep their pets indoors.

We share sighting reports not to stir fear but just to be sure people are aware that coyotes are pretty much everywhere in our area, even if you’ve never seen one. Here’s the state’s advice on what to do if you see one, and how to reduce the chances they’ll want to hang around your house, among other things.

Three recent coyote sightings to pass along, starting with this one sent today by Lois:

Friday morning about 9, a coyote came up the hill into our yard. Left when we pounded on the window. Went back down the hill. One of our cats is missing. He had only been out 30 minutes or so. This is in the 2300 block of 51st SW. Close to the College Street ravine.

From Paul in Fauntleroy:

Coyote sighting, Wednesday, October 2. It was on Tillicum SW between SW Donovan and SW Cloverdale st. This was at 9:50 am. It took its time after staring at me and then turned and trotted off to Donovan heading West.

And Michael reported this Gatewood sighting a week and a half ago: “Just saw two coyotes walking west along Portland between California Ave and 44th Ave.”

So what do you do if you see one? Lots of good advice on this state webpage – including steps to take around your house to help increase the chances they’ll keep their distance.

First coyote report in a few weeks, shared this morning by Diane:

Around 10:45 pm last night I was heading up my street (Garlough Ave SW) and saw two of them, heading south, about mid block, between Stevens and Hanford street (map). They then headed west into a neighbor’s yard, most likely one that has access to the back alley. We live close to a trail into Schmitz Park and I wasn’t surprised to see them. My neighbor has seen them in the back yard sometimes. The back yard is on the park boundary, near the trail leading into it.

Reminders are always good for those with pets – keep them inside at night!

Even if you’re not near a park or greenbelt, they might be in your area – browse the WSB archive of coyote reports (some with photos) to see. For expert advice on how to encourage them to keep their distance – most notably, scaring them away if you see one – go here and follow the “solutions to problems” link.

Jenn says she and her dog were out before 5 am today when this happened:

I just got back from walking my dog, and coming across a coyote standing at Alaska and 46th SW, 2 blocks from the Junction. It was in the yard of the home on the SW corner of the intersection.

It crossed Alaska as we approached, and as I realized what it was, we turned around immediately and went back the way we had come. The coyote then reappeared and began following us right back down 46th. It was very brave. My dog, of course, then stops to poop….and the coyote is still coming. It was getting WAY too close for comfort. We crossed to the other side of 46th, and it didn’t follow us, but continued walking our direction. We scurried into our house quickly!

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Out of the WSB inbox, from Kari:

Last night around 3 am, we spotted two healthy adult coyotes and maybe a younger one walking down our street on 31st PL SW just north of Roxbury [map]. They were heading north, but might’ve ducked behind a neighbor’s house to the east of us. There’s a big ravine down there, but we also have a ton of cats on our street including our own, so maybe that’s what attracted them.

Expert advice on what to do if you see coyote(s) – and how best to keep them at bay – can be found here, as well as in this WSB story from last month.

Our latest West Seattle coyote sighting comes with a photo. David Roth saw this one “at the end of Victoria Avenue SW” on Monday and sent the photo today. That’s along the Duwamish Head Greenbelt, according to Google Maps.

In our most recent coyote coverage (our five-year archive is here), a federal wildlife-control agent had contacted WSB to urge local residents to take precautions to discourage their proximity to neighborhoods, including not letting pets out by themselves, not leaving pet food out (or anything else – like bird feeders – that coyotes might find tasty), and, if you see one, actively scaring it away, by hollering and throwing things, among other tips. More info is in this state publication we often share to close out coyote-sighting reports, which we publish as a public service to remind more people they’re out there, pretty much everywhere, and if you assume they’re not in your neighborhood because you’ve never seen one, you’re probably wrong.

The latest round of coyote concern in West Seattle is NOT grounds for trapping and killing one (or more). We heard that today from a source that might surprise you – an agent of the federal Wildlife Services division who works in West Seattle. Last summer, we reported on his appearance in the Seola area, where neighbors were raising money for a four-digit “co-op” fee solicited for federal help; this year, Admiral residents seeking to do the same thing distributed flyers like this one. Then today, the agent called us out of the blue, to ask us to get the word out on what he advises people should do to minimize coyote conflict:

Read More

The latest West Seattle coyote sighting was shared by Diane, and it paints quite the picture:

Today, a coyote was chased by crows through the Delridge P-Patch parking lot along Puget Blvd toward the Longfellow Creek greenbelt. It looked like a very healthy male.

As always – we share this advice about what to do if you see a coyote as well as how to reduce the chance of conflicts. (The crows seem to know already.)

ADDED 9:28 PM: Another one came in right after we published this. From Melissa:

Just had a coyote go trotting down the street here, heading toward 16th. I’m just below Riverview Park on Othello. He moved too fast for me to get a pic, though. Figured I’d pass along a head’s up.

Someone asked us recently about the Schmitz Park coyotes, saying they hadn’t heard (much less seen) them lately. This sighting report received late Sunday night suggests they’re still around

I live near Schmitz Park Elementary on 50th and Spokane St. I was sitting on our patio in the back of our house at about 10:45 pm tonight and saw a single adult coyote heading north in our alley. 50th street “T” ‘s in to Spokane street at the front of Schmitz Park Elementary. Schmitz Park Preserve comes right up to the street in between the school and a residential property. Many homes border the preserve and there are no fences to keep coyotes from coming up to hunt in the neighborhoods. If anyone has pets that go out at night, please consider having them come in at night. I know how much we treasure out pets and I would not want any one to lose one to a coyote or raptor. Domestic pets don’t have a healthy fear of wild animals and large raptors that hunt in the nights and early morning hours. I was stunned to see one out in my neighbor’s yard. I have heard them but never actually seen them. One day they howled at the edge of the park around midnight and then another time at 9:30 in the morning. That was an odd time to hear them. I thought they were nocturnal. Hope this is helpful to those walking with pets in the evening as well.

There’s more you should know about co-existing with coyotes – read the state’s advice here.

Early Tuesday, we published a coyote-sighting report for the first time in a while, after some had asked us if they somehow weren’t around any more. Yes, they are, as these photos show – Mark Wangerin photographed the coyote pup above, earlier this week at Camp Long, and not far away, minutes ago, Zane sent us this photo from the West Seattle Golf Course:

Zane saw the coyote and a pup around the 12th hole, fifteen minutes ago. Reminder: It’s best for us and them if they keep their distance – lots of advice here about not providing food, and about scaring them away if they get too close.

(November 2nd photo by Scott Painter)
That photo was taken at Camp Long about 400 feet north of the lodge, by the photographer’s estimate. But as you’ll see in this roundup of recent reports received from WSB readers, they don’t by any means limit themselves to parks and greenbelts. The photographs we receive tend to show them in those settings, but here’s one spotted on a neighborhood sidewalk:

Katina, who shared that photo, explained:

My family and I encountered this coyote at the intersection of Walnut Ave SW and SW Hinds (October 28th) at 10:30 am. It was clearly injured about the neck area. It was originally sitting in the middle to the street, but began to run as our car approached. It then slowed down and just stared at us before taking off down 40th Ave SW.

Seven more recent reports are ahead, starting with a pet owner who saw two coyotes make off with her cat:Read More

Mark Wangerin thinks that might be the same coyote he’s photographed before in the West Seattle Golf Course/lower Camp Long area. This photo is from Thursday. And it leads off the latest list of sightings reported by WSB’ers – read on:

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Last time we published a roundup of recent coyote sightings, we included a reader photo from 36th and Hinds. After that, Marvin Music sent photos of what he thinks might be the same one – above – often seen, he says, near his home in the 33rd/Hinds area, though seldom in daylight. And now, it’s time another roundup – starting with two sightings came in barely an hour apart this afternoon. First, from Katy:

Approaching the intersection of 41st and Dawson just a few minutes (4:10 pm sunday) ago I startled a coyote, who turned north on Dawson and trotted along the sidewalk nearly the full length of the block. I glanced away to grab my camera and he/she turned up into one of the yards for cover. My husband swears he saw a coyote with two older pups in the neighbor’s yard about a month ago… These sightings are happening in the middle of the day. We have some folks in the neighborhood that choose to leave feed out for feral cats…I’ve seen raccoons also feeding on those porches. Perhaps these things in turn attract the coyotes… who knows…. I am assuming they will avoid people, but again, who knows. Slightly unnerving.

From Trina:

Just wanted to let you know I saw a coyote in our neighborhood. It was on 26th Ave SW between 100th st and 99th st. Let people know to keep their pets inside!

Ahead, four other sightings from the past week:
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Bryan photographed that coyote in his back yard near 36th and Hinds, where he says it’s showed up the past two days. That’s one of four sightings we’ve received in the past five days, including:

*13th and Cloverdale (same area mentioned during last week’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting), last Friday morning. Amy writes, “I was walking home from dropping my kindergartner off at Highland Park Elementary. I was heading west on Cloverdale and saw the coyote on the corner of 13th and Cloverdale.”

*Also in Highland Park, last Thursday. Erin writes, “Saw a coyote … run across our backyard that borders the greenbelt in Highland Park. After clapping loudly to scare it away, I realized there was a second one off in the woods in a different direction.”

*From the Fairmount Ravine area, Jennifer sent in a “found cat” note last week – after, she said, “I just had a coyote chase a young gray cat into my yard. … He sat down across the street from my partner and yawned at him this morning when he interrupted the cat chase by going out to get in his car.”

We report periodically on coyote sightings not in the interest of hysteria, but in the interest of neighbors reminding neighbors that they live among us. For answers to questions such as “what do I do if I see one?” and “what do I do to encourage them to keep their distance?” the state’s Living With Wildlife: Coyotes infopage offers thorough advice. Archived coyote reports published on WSB can be found here; the map we published earlier this year, to show all the places WSB readers have reported sightings since 2007, can be seen here.

That photo is from Aly, taken in July in the 24th SW/Cloverdale vicinity, where she reported this week she is still seeing them. Then this morning, Becky reported that coyotes were “hanging around” Hamilton Viewpoint Park early today. Those two were simple sightings – but this next note also came in from Highland Park a short time ago, causing us to speed up the coyote roundup we were working on, since this is reported in an area popular with dog owners:

I live on 3rd Ave SW behind Westcrest Park and off-leash park and I had my 4 dogs attacked last night by the coyotes that are in the area. There have been 2 of them spotted on my street in recent weeks. I have one of my dogs in critical condition now and 3 I am nursing at home. Please, everyone, watch out for them; they are even out during the late afternoon in daylight. We need to find a way to get the city or state to set up a trap to move them into the mountains.

We have a followup question out. Ahead, three other recent coyote reports:Read More

“Look who was sunbathing in my backyard today!” Jude wrote, sharing this photo on the WSB Facebook page. Clearest, “closest” coyote photo we’ve seen in a while – but no, Jude wasn’t really face-to-face with this one; she was inside her home and equipped with good camera equipment, as well as skill. She lives near Schmitz Park – but remember, as our map of WSB’ers’ coyote reports showed, they’re everywhere, not just near parks/greenbelts. (If you do wind up close to one, the best thing to do for their sake and yours is to try hard to scare it away – the state’s coyote-info page has suggestions.)