Lyn, I wonder if you can give me any guidance on our situation across the road from you. We had a spurt of new coyotes appear, driven by the drought and continuing depletion of habitat west of us. We had several small dogs taken, as they jumped walls and fences, which our tired old coyotes had not done. Then we acquired one or more bobcats, at least one of which is very aggressive and was seen taken a neighbor’s white dog in the morning. The bobcat sits in our yards, walked into a garage and would not leave until the homeowner sprayed water at it, and this weekend was sitting inside the chain link fence next door to us, waiting for the little terrier to come out in the morning.

We hesitate to call the County, as that’s a death sentence. Do you folks have a plan for dealing with this? Are there any humane trap and release people in our area?

Thanks!

Sara

(Lyn's Note: Hi, Sara. This is a tough problem. Small pets are easy prey for the wildlife here. Some even get snatched by hawks. Fences and walls are obviously no protection against hawks but coyotes and bobcats can generally easily get over them too. They are very agile. The only truly safe way for small animals to be outside is if the owners are right beside them, within grabbing distance. This is essentially a hostile environment for the little guys, and humans have to be vigilant if they don't want their pets to become snacks. It is inconvenient, but is the fact.

 

A big problem comes from people who feed the wildlife, some in an effort to be kind, and others so they can see them up close. This is bad for the animals and bad for the people in the long term. When wild animals lose their instinctive fear of humans, this is the result.

 

County Animal Control does not respond to calls about wildlife. Game and Fish is the department for that. And, yes, it is a death sentence. Even if the animals are "relocated", they often return to their territory or are killed by the animals into whose territory they are placed.  Here is a Game and Fish website I Googled that may be helpful.

 

Yet another concern is rabies, if the bobcat is very aggressive. If you suspect that may be the case, it is time to call Game and Fish.)

 

Hey Lyn,

So we adopted Obi-Won-Kanobi and Chewbaca from FAR. OMG. They are so flippin’ cute [working on potty-training].

We are so very happy with both FAR and the new additions to our family. You will have to come by and visit.

Thanks a bunch for the referrals and for all you do for our community.

Appreciatively,

Cara, John, Alex, Obi and Chewie

(Lyn's note: Thank you!  Rescuing is wonderful.  FAR is one of our favorites.  We've supported them for years.  For more info on FAR visit http://foothillsanimal.org/)