Animal Control officials are urging residents on the west side of New Canaan to be alert after two coyote versus dog incidents this week, including one where a Chihuahua mix was taken.
On Monday, a resident of Knapp Lane reported that a Labrador retriever sustained puncture wounds to the inside of a back thigh after two coyotes were sighted in his yard, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section.
On Thursday, a man on Adams Lane put his two dogs out in the yard while he went briefly to his garage and then heard a commotion, Halm said. He watched two large coyotes snatch his 13-pound white Chihuahua mixed-breed dog and run off through the woods, Halm said. The man chased but was unable to keep up with the coyotes, and believes his dog was already dead in the animal’s mouth, she said.
“I really want to send an alert out to the west side because I believe these could be the same animals,” Halm said.
“It doesn’t matter time of day, where you live, or the size of your dog. I believe these are all territorial issues and we obviously have a pair that is on the alert.”
Coyotes den in the spring when they have pups and then live as transients. Halm said that anyone who wants to contact her for advice on safeguarding their pets and property should do so and she will visit their home to help.
Police last year reported a sharp rise in coyote sightings in New Canaan. In March, a dog on Beacon Hill Lane was killed by a coyote, and in May coyotes near Waveny Pond bit a leash-walked dog in the popular park while “escorting” others around what presumably was a den, prompting officials to put up warning signs.
We as a Town spend a lot of money for are children, seniors
public safety you name it we spend on it — but we can get red of a few
coyotes — we know were they are but we continue to let our pets be
killed by them — time to do this before another pet is taken
I don’t want to keep reading this same story every so many months
In July I was gardening and out of the corner of my eye I see what I think is my dog behind me but just beyond the electric fence. No, it is a coyote about 20 feet from me in the stream going towards the Noroton River. I immediately pick up my shovel and chase it while yelling as my dog is around and I don’t want a confrontation. The coyote does not look back, just trying to get away from me. My dog runs over and I grab her just as she sees the coyote and starts going crazy. I hold my dog by the collar as we watch the coyote go to the river and turn left. Now, our property drops off just behind our house into wetlands, a pretty decent drop. About 15 feet below from where I am standing, a large red fox pops out from behind a boulder, looks at me and my dog, looks down at the coyote, looks at me again as if to say, “all clear?” and then runs down to the river and turns right. Needless to say my dog almost ripped my arm out of its socket trying to chase after both animals and was a mess for a good half hour. It was a very surreal day of gardening in New Canaan.
Wow, what a crazy time! I do my gardening expecting to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Glad we don’t have coyotes yet, but they will come to Long Island eventually. We just got skunks back after 40 years!