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Owner says cat attacked on lanai by coyote
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Worthington Country Club is trying to catch a coyote after a resident of the south Lee County neighborhood found his cat dead in his pool.
A splash in the pool awakened Southampton Drive resident Roger Randell about 4 a.m. June 14, he said Monday.
Randell, 72, said he got a light and went to investigate and saw a coyote run out of the pool and jump about 4 feet in the air and through his screened lanai.
The cat, Kermie, appeared to have suffered a broken neck and was dead in the pool, he said.
The incident is at least the second time a coyote is suspected of killing a cat in neighborhoods near the Lee-Collier line.
A Quail Creek resident reported her cat, Satchel, went missing the following day from her lanai. The screen was ripped open and a garden trampled, she said. Residents had reported seeing coyotes in the area.
Private trappers have caught three coyotes in The Brooks subdivision in Estero, where coyotes have killed three small dogs, injured three others and bit a woman.
Randell said the Lee County Sheriff’s Office took a report on the attack.
Worthington has hired a private trapper in the wake of the attack on Randell’s lanai, Randell said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission doesn’t investigate individual attacks unless they deem them to be a chronic problem, such as the Estero attacks on dogs being walked on leashes, spokesman Gary Morse said.
“Coyotes do (attack animals) all the time. Bobcats do this all the time,” Morse said. “It’s common, really common.”
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Keep your pets indoors. Screening works for most insects but not larger animals!
#1 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on June 30, 2008 at 11:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Toooo freaky!
However, the coyotes were here first, and they're asserting themselves in the chain of survival.
Kinda like the Indians making millions in casinos after many years of being hurt by developers in FL.
Revenge is sweet in the animal world, and human world, too.
Here kitty kitty....we've got some new slot machines for ya.
#2 Posted by beetlejuice on June 30, 2008 at 11:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is very serious stuff if you're a pet owner. Please keep pets off lanai overnight and never have any kid of pet food out there.
#3 Posted by Saki on July 1, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's their natural instinct for survival. Therefore, keep your pets inside folks!
#4 Posted by Lemme on July 1, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So much for nine lives!
#5 Posted by popiels on July 1, 2008 at 12:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
beetlejuice. It is unlikely (at least per Dr. Main...the expert on coyotes in Florida) that the coyotes were "here first". If you are talking about this particular cat and the house, you are right, however, as there have been coyotes in Florida as early as the 1920's. Florida is not a part of their natural range.
Please check out this link about Dr. Main's research:
http://swfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/wild/coyote/
To be fair, Joe Schaefer who also works for University of Florida also worked on this study, along with several others who were probably grad students.
Another great link to put things into perspective:
http://www.wec.ufl.edu/extension/
#6 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on July 1, 2008 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why did the coyote leave with out its kill?
#7 Posted by Tsaot on July 1, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I've always felt the pets should be inside the house rather than the lanai at night. I wondered if the gators would come in and get my cats or dog.
#8 Posted by FreshFace on July 29, 2008 at 4:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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