One thing a person can do is to arm themselves with a pistol, lets say a Browning Buckmark 22 caliber semi auto pistol. It can be easily carried and makes minimal noise when fired. With just a little practice he could have possibly been able to hit the coyote two to three times before it disappeared.

Pistols are not for everyone, just a thought. My condolences to the couple. I hope their pain eases soon. Alcohol will help for a day or two.

poor puppy...i have little doggies too and i would die if that happened to one of them...so sorry for your loss...

Yes, friends. Now in addition to alligators, Nile monitors and coyotes, we'll have to keep an eye peeled for the new residents walking their dog with their Browning Buckmarks carefully prepped for action.

Listen to those shots. You can scarcely hear them. There's no recoil at all. The little bitty bullets just skid harmlessly across the pavement as the non-shooter with the liddle Malti-Poo or whatever tries to swallow, squint and pull the trigger while his heart pounds like a jackhammer.

The coyote is a blur, disappearing quickly in the dusk. Porch lights wink on, and in the distance there's the sound of shattering glass, a rising scream that says some little girl staring out her bedroom window has just been introduced to info's vision of the future: Drive-by shootings by almost-a-dog owners who believe they stand even half a chance against urbanized wildlife.

Lock up your pups and greet the new order in Southwest Florida.

And watch out for the wild pigs. You know they're out there, don't you?

I know this guy who works for ACME, he will get rid of the coyotes for sure.

They won't even do anything about pit bulls that regularly kill small dogs and cats, it's not surprising that coyotes get away with it too.

You can start by thanking all of your wonderful local, state, and federal agencies for not allowing reasonable access and firearms on public conservation lands. Varmints such as this used to be kept in check by the local natives who hunted responsibly, but now cannot. Populations can now flourish without being kept in check. Pick your poison: gun-toting law abiding natives, or varmints. You do-gooders will pick the varmints every time.

When I am outside with or without my dogs, I carry bear spray because we have seen coyotes in our area, also. The spray will not cause permanent harm. The range is about 20 feet and it can stop an attacking bear. It is legal. However, just as you would with any self defense device, it is recommended that you practice with the spray. In fact, the kit we have at home comes with a practice canister of inert spray. In a strong wind, there are limits to its use. Yes, I also carry the antidote with the spray.
While I do carry, I would not think of using lethal force unless there were no other alternatives. Never! Too easy for something to go wrong. If I get a face full of pepper spray, I will be fine. If my wife gets in the way, she would be mad as hell, but she would be fine also. If that happened, I would be on the couch for too long! So the Browning idea is not a good one unless you are on 20 acres and have no close neighbors. Even then I would choose the spray unless there was no other choice.

Wow there is still wildlife in Florida.

This one was not in the Zoo?

Keep building and there wont be anything left!!

Unbelievable! People, this is a jungle down here. Yeah, we have nice homes and the weather is great, but it will come back to this: This is a jungle. As more buildings occur, the local residents will spread out, and not in the way you want them to go.

Suggestions: Don't walk your small dogs without a large dog. Don't do it at 10:30 at night.

Remember where you are. Use common sense.

Would you walk your small dogs in an urban setting with the same population density as your gated community?

Here's your sign.

Sorry about the pet. However, we do share this land with the wildlife. The bear spray sounds great. Personally I enjoy seeing animals in the wild. We have to be careful of our surroundings. Again, sorry for you and your dog. It's difficult to lose a pet you love.

I say let's call Dick Cheney; he will know what to do!

He is a fearless warrior and highly decorated veteran of numerous political wars. I hear he can hit anything within 10 yards especially when accompanied by friends. He is especially skilled in hand to hand medical deferral signatures.

Yes, call Dick and see Dick do his job.

Nuff said; those pesky coyotes are really going to get you know what....

"Apparently, the coyote wasn’t afraid of being close to a human".
I've seen a lot of Coyotes in my life, but I've never seen one that would walk up to a human. Sounds more like another dog to me, but that's just my opinion.
RunSilent..You're an idiot!

Advice to the owners of this precious little dog is to ignore the rubbish this bunch of idiots place on this page. You will be hurting enough without taking on board any of their ridiculous comments.

The only way forward is to do all we can to get the governing bodies to sit up and take notice of this problem. They will tell you that this was an 'isolated incident', believe me, it's NOT! The more people you talk to the more you will come to realize that this is happening in many communities in our area. These authorities can tell you that your case is 'isolated' because not one of them take responsibility to even just record your name or details of the incident. Shame on you all, shame on you!

As an animal lover myself, I'm not in favor of a mass killing of wildlife, but I do think that more could be done to raise awareness of this growing problem. Please, don't give us the crap about these coyotes being afraid of humans, I know from experience they are DEFINITELY NOT. They silently stalk you and show no fear, you don't even realize they are there until unfortunately it's too late.

My heart goes out to you both.

Poop happens when you pave over paradise, and put up a parking lot of malls,homes etc.

They were here before us.

I agree with you JYD. I believe we are the interlopers.

dixielee... you missed my point.. good ole Dick and his supporters are "wall to wall" down here in Paradise or haven't you driven through Port Royal lately. Many of them have derived their wealth from the pavement and development that continues to drive wildlife out of its' habitat.

Tell you what, now that we are feeling the effects of the Mid East Oil Cartel's economic retaliation for our attempted oil grab in Iraq, it won't be long before you see Dick and his buddies throwing up those oil derricks off our coast here in "paradise". They can then, gleefully, claim they not only "paved paradise" but, turned the gulf into a reef free zone void of any sea life.

That's ok though, they can just take their billions made here and rebuild somewhere else and retire to another "paradise" while their progeny continue the process somewhere else on the planet.

Should have gotten a bigger dog. I hope the coyotes are dining on feral cats too.

RSRD.....Yup, I know first hand what it was like when Collier County population was around 15,000 in 1968, if that, and now stands around 400,000.

And I do mean the whole County population.

They do not just choose dogs being walked on a leash.They also target pet cats,and,young children.Go to www.coyotebytes.org for more information.

Unfortunately coyotes have multiplied simply because of the lack of natural predators. As we keep building, we keep driving the top of the food chain predators out and the one's that multiply like rabbits are taking over. Also as the fires rampage, wildlife will move. Sorry about the loss of the doggie, but as pet owners we need to be aware there are dangers whether is be coyotes, bears, snakes or other dogs.

bear arms,,,, shoot to kill,,,, dont call or tell anyone and stir up unecessary crap,,,, dig a hole and bury it,,,, end of story

JunkYardDog: you are unfortunately correct.

Coyotes also target farm animals. They are quite adaptable and live in urban settings with ease. They are not native to Florida.
The leading expert on the spread and behavior of coyotes in Florida is Dr. Martin Main a researcher for University of Florida. The results of his research on coyotes can be found here:

http://swfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/wild/coyot...

BlueTV....That link is an excellent source of info,thanks.

All who care should read those reports and info.

Isn't a vole type of rat?

I'm just asking.

Voles are also known has "meadow" or "field" mice.

coyote facts from the FWC
http://myfwc.com/CRITTERS/pdf/CoyoteW...

my coyote charged me 2000 dollars to cross the border and now i live in naples so i don't really mind them

Have always carried this while back packing. It really is considered the very best, non lethal, deterrent for black and brown bears. Would more than be sufficient for coyotes and wolves.

Put those guns away. Counter Assault Bear Deterrent Pepper Spray. Check it out on the web for those inclined to seek protection from a predatory coyote.

http://www.counterassault.com/

Carry a pistol and not a buttefly gun like a .22. Get yerself of .38 and learn how to blast away with it.

If you see a coyete and it comes within range of your shooting skills blow it ta pieces! end of problem.

Most of you bozos think that using a gun simply requires that you point it in the general direction of that which is to be shoot and drop the hammer. Wrong! You need to practice practice practice then practice somemore.

When you can hit a moving target at 25 yards then if you see one of these predators kill it daid.

dixilee....you took the words right out of my mouth.

Some of you people truly need to grow a heart.

This young couple lost there dog in such a violent way. To some of you it probably does not matter b/c it was a dog, but to most people, their pets are a huge part of their families. These coyotes are becoming a bigger and bigger problem in our communities and b/c they were here first we should let them just take over? Would we keep bears around if they were present in our communities? Do they keep alligators around if they attack pets? I really don't think so! What do you think will happen if nothing is done about this increasing problem? They are not afraid of humans, don't you think they will start going after children? They have already started to attack children in California. Will you still be making the comments you are now? What is so sad is that most of you probably will! You must have a pretty sad life if you get off making others feel worse about their losses.

Children are going to start getting hurt if something is not done to move these animals away from our communities. Do you want to live in fear b/c you say they were here first?

I was actually referring to haveaheart not dixilee!

Re: Voles...Yup, just keep those coyotes away from me.

For those who are not fans of Carl Hiassen, you might enjoy his writings about Florida. It was he who inspired my screen name. For the curious, check out his book, "Native Tongue".

Hiassen appeared in Collier County a couple of times Nice guy, too: not at all taken with himself.

mikeinnaples,

Getting a larger dog was exactly my point, small dogs are tasteless and have hardly any flavor at all. JRT's are too annoying to eat.

I am a dog lover and feel really bad for these folks - it must be a horrible memory to have ... but to refer to a dog as your son???? Sounds very wierd to me.

JustBeachy, the bonds people form with their pets sometimes transcend reason. My wife accurately calls our dogs as "furkids", seriously. We have two human children (both grown and out of the house): the pets seem provide a special bond. Some who never have children apparently do treat their pets as if they are children. Why not, who is to say this is a bad idea? Not really weird, is it? The critters give unconditional love and are heavily dependent. Infants relate to their parents that way.

It is certainly unfortunate that a pet served as prey rather than an animal without an intimate bond to a human. The immediate physical pain the animal would suffer is limited. The pain of the loss for the human can go on for a long time.

Some view dogs and other domestic animals as just property with a personality. They don't know what they are missing.

Interesting, a pet gets killed in the Estates by a panther or bear and the commenters could care less about the pet or the owner. "Thats what you get for living there".
Same thing happens in an urban area a whole different story.

Swampbuggy, I suspect many who live in Theme Parked Florida have little sympathy because they have no idea of what real Florida is and the idea of something so authentic is pretty frightening to them.

We have had more problems with dangerous dogs running loose and threatening people, their pets and livestock than bears or the all too rare panther. We do have coyotes around, too, but I think we may have less of them than the urban folks do. Being consummate opportunists, coyotes do better in an urban environment than bears or panthers.

In a way I agree with you BTV... on one hand you are defending the couple who call the dog their son, and now you are defending real florida where things like this are bound to happen. I have a dog, have always had a dog and I love dogs. My dog sleeps in my bed, eats the same food I do and I walk, bathe and feed my wonderful dog. However, I have children too so I have a distinction between a dog and a child. You can't possibly compare the two and to do so is ridiculous. People have the right to do so, but my personal opinion is that people who go to that extent (to call their dog their son) have "People Problems"... they can only deal on a dog level... I personally can do both.

*X*X*X*X* "They won't even do anything about pit bulls that regularly kill small dogs and cats, it's not surprising that coyotes get away with it too.

#5 Posted by greathornedlizard on May 12, 2008 at 10:03 p.m.***

*X*X*X*X*

You are spot on... get a pit bull and dont worry about the coyotes.

Agreed with BTV....If there were more bears and panthers there would less coyotes....Now we have more people and less of a natural state of wildlife/food chain. Hence,we now have the cunning,brave but elusive coyote who will take his food to go.

Think of it as a McDonalds drive thru for coyotes.

Are all of you vegetarians?

LOL...after reading some of these comments, I am left with 1 thought.

Please consider the bear spray solution. Best idea.

The idea of some of you with guns, in the dark, firing wildly, scares the poop out of me.

Some of you have had a good laugh at this couples plight! Some of you have given very good advice.

Wouldn't it be great if we could all take this problem seriously and just pass on the good advice and information on what to do if faced with either this or any other threatening creature to your family or friends.

I'm sure many of you have heard of 'pay it forward', if we could use this example to get the message to everyone around us to take care then the point of this couple coming forward to report this story has not been wasted.

When faced with this animal only 2 feet away from you, having it lunge at you not once but twice showing no fear and then to have your pet taken away in front of your eyes, and you try desperately to run after it, not caring for your own safety unable to breath, trying to shout for help at the same time, then hearing the sounds, your head spinning in total disbelief knowing there is not a thing you can do, then the deafening silence, shock, the nightmares and sleepless nights that follow.

Don't waste this opportunity to get the message out to all you know, this could happen to anyone anytime.

From the wording in the story it sounds like the dog was on one of those retractable leashes which was extended. Those leashes are dangerous for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the dog can get in a lot of trouble when it is that far away from its owner, particularly when there is wildlife around. Had the dog been next to the owner on a normal leash, it's not likely he would've been snatched.

houndrescue - YOU ARE SO WRONG.

My experience with this animal was 2 feet away from me, it came up silently from behind, so silently the two dogs I was with didn't even know it was there, it stood, looked up at me and in a split second lunged at my dog once, I bent down to pick up my dog, I kicked at the coyote and screamed in it's face, it backed off and then quickly came back at my other little pup for a second time it showed no fear, I struggled with it, it was so close to me I could describe it's every feature! DO NOT underestimate this animal, you will read from the governing bodies that these animals are afraid of humans, that they will not approach you, be warned there are some that are NOT AFRAID and WILL APPROACH. The authorities DO NOT collect names or any information on these attacks so how the hell can they give advice! Despite my many calls and emails, I have had one emailed response telling me that my incident was 'isolated' and not to be too concerned, these attacks are rare, oh really!!!

To haveaheart: Your comment in the story says the leash was "extended", which I presume means your dog was more than two feet away from you. I was born and raised in ranching country in the southwest U.S. I live in the mountains of New Mexico and have had many encounters with wildlife, most commonly, coyotes. Like humans, not all animals behave the same, but we, as humans must take responsibility to protect our pets. After all, we are the ones encroaching on the territory of wildlife. These attacks are extremely rare, even in the wilds of the mountains where coyotes are much more common. I've had dogs all my life and have coexisted with wildlife with no incidents even similar to what you describe. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying there are things we need to do as animal guardians that will ensure their safety.

Hire some of our Iraqi war vets. I'm sure they could use some pocket cash to supplement their VA care...

"Set up a perimeter...claymores along the fenceline. Give me a .50 cal on that roof...SAW in the poolhouse. Ghost squadron cover the 5th hole, dogleg right..."

The other solution is to buy a few rabbits and offer them as sacrifices to the coyote gods...

To Houndrescue - my dog was 2 feet away from me, not on an extended leash, I'm not talking about this couples experience, I'm talking about my own, which happened in a well lit main street on a residential community with both dogs on a leash (not extended). Coyotes have attacked 2 small dogs in similar circumstances within the past 8 weeks in the same area, there is no getting away from that fact, it's happening now and we need to make people aware and alert of the dangers.

Coyotes often hunt in packs as well. When they do this you are at risk of being attacked too. They are very sneaky animals, but with that being said they are just following their instinct. They need to eat too! However my heart goes out to the family, because losing an animal is horrible....to have witnessed a gruesome attack is even worse.

To haveaheart; Pardon my assumption that you were the person on whom the article was written. Bottom line is people need to be aware as you stated. Abnormally aggressive animal behavior has been traced to maternal instincts to protect and feed their young. Springtime brings out babies in the wild - best to keep that in mind if you live in an area where coyotes have been sighted.

To Houndrescue - thank you. After this happened to us, we kept trying to get the governing bodies to recognize that there was a problem, that this Coyote(s) was active and aggressive. Not one of them took note of anything we were saying infact on the day our incident took place we were passed around to 9 different contact numbers and eventually coming back to the first we started with. All they said was, 'it doesn't sound like a Coyote, there is nothing we can do, we don't record incidents on Coyotes; now if it was an aligator, we could help'! Consequently, we have another little dog living within minutes from us having suffered the same fate. All we wanted was for them to put out a warning in the local area.

Here is my one and only email response from a local expert, it contains some good information for anyone who reads it. Just a pity this advice was not offered to the public.

His reply to my URGENT REQUESTS:

I'm obviously behind on email. I'm not sure how I might help you regarding your concerns about coyotes. Having a coyote lunge at your pet would be very upsetting and I am in no way attempting to indicate otherwise.

The truth of the matter is that I don't think there is much that can be done except to:
- be vigilant
- pick your pet up if a wild animal (or another domestic dog) approaches
- carry pepper spray if you are really uncomfortable
- don't feed or tolerate others to feed coyotes (or any other wild animal)
- keep cats indoors, and attend small dogs in evening and morning hours when let out
- remember a big coyote is less than 40 pounds, a big rottweiler may be 110 pounds
- coyotes do kill some pets every year, domestic and feral dogs kill thousands of pets every year
- coyotes live everywhere in the US, Canada, and Central America.
- trying to kill coyotes is neither very humane or practical. coyotes have been persecuted throughout the west for decades to no effect
- would you want a big poisoning, steel-jawed leghold trapping, or cable snaring (choking) campain or somewone a spotlight shooting coyotes in your neighborhood? It doesn't sound very practical. Lot's of risks.

Wildlife are running short on space, and the coyote is one of the few larger carnivores that is making an effective attempt to survive in urbanizing areas. Who can blame them? Unfortunately, a small pet looks like an easy meal. So we (all of us) need to be more vigilant, practical, careful, etc. to protect our pets. I really think our only option is to adjust our behaviors to live with wildlife and minimize risks to our pets, tolerate the armadillo burrow under the hedge, and consider the black racer (snake) and the croaking frogs our neighbors and a part of Florida.

I hope some of what I've provided is useful or comforting.

To Clous3 - to witness this kind of attack leaves you feeling completely devastated and helpless, it is with me every waking moment, the worst time of all is when I have a quiet moment to myself and my mind begins to wander, there is no peace from these thoughts.

haveaheart: Although you didn't name the expert, I suspect it was one of two people: both associated with Universities/Research.

The bear spray is pepper spray with a longer reach. It comes in a larger canister and some companies offer an antidote if you would somehow be exposed to the spray.

Other dogs can also pose a threat, so it pays to be more vigilant than most of us are.

The expert sounds like the fellow I know. He is wise and offered you sound advice.

PS. haveaheart: sorry for your loss.

Thank you BTV, that's why I wanted to share his advice, I only wish it could be more widespread than the few left following up on this story. Thank you for your info.

My neighbor has a small dog, approximately 5 to 8 pounds. He too walks it late at night. In response to the recent and highly publized coyote attacks he took matters into his own hands. He constructed a sort of homemade suit of armor for his pet.

He made a vest and boots out of numerous layers of military grade corduva. He also made a neck protector and helmet out of very thick cow leather for the dog. It is quite a sight but appears to be very well made and protective.

He told me that he feels the get-up can withstand any coyote attack and maybe even an attack by a larger domestic dog or bird of prey.
The whole set up weighs about 3 to 4 pounds and is even quite fashionable.

I witnessed the dog releaving itelf in the grass and it did not appear to hamper its ability to do so. I apologize for my earlier comment about carrying a firearm for protection, as I realize most of the people in this area or least a lot of these bloggers are scared of firearms. I will try to reframe from such suggestions in the future.

My neighbor originally tried rubbing his dogs fur down with a thick coating of crisco thinking that if it were to be grabbed by a coyote it would not be able to hold onto the doggie. He soon gave up on that idea because of the stains it was leaving on the bed sheets.

A .22 is WAY too small for coyotes. You really want a twelve gague.

Coyotes are a NUSIANCE, not happy little wildlife.
I sympathise with the dog owner... a couple of the boys have the chicken pen staked out right now.
That Coyote... will... vanish. Losing a chicken a night is a pain.

There was one hanging out behind a buddie's house...stalking his grandchildren.
Dunno what happened to it... but it's gone.

You can have all the flowery "get along with nature" stuff going on that you want... but I will GUARENTEE... that as soon as they run out of little dogs, and chickens... they will form packs and start on larger prey.

They are VERY adaptable... and will find a food source... I'm sure they will start with the anti gun group.

As for bear spray... that just moves the problem towards someone ELSE... it doesn't SOLVE IT.
I'm also NOT arming six year olds with bear spray, nor do I feel chickens can be taught to use it.

Oh... and my girls are LARGE... both breeds used for hunting... and they don't go out without an escort. Sure... they could EITHER of them take out a coyote...
And I don't need them exposed to rabies, bites, fleas, or any other mutant disease carried by coyotes.

The PROBLEM, is that not enough of the coyotes are being killed... that makes the food supply scarce.
Anything that is hungry, is gonna TRY for food.
That includes the stolen chickens, little dogs, and will progress to smallish children, and so forth.
The only actual soloution is to exterminate a bunch of them.

Oh, and before someone in the lil gated community gets shook up. I'm no WHERE NEAR YOU. Nor do I suggest shooting ANYTHING in a residential area.
I suggest live trapping, or tranq darts... and then having them put down by lethal injection.

Let me tell you a lil story... about ten years ago, a bunch of the women around here decided deer were "cute..." So they talked the boys out of hunting.
I told them what was gonna happen... but they didn't listen.
I never saw so many deer/car accidents in my life.
Then we had a pretty bad winter, and they started eating the bark off the trees... cause that was all they could FIND to eat. There were TOO MANY OF THEM.
The women thought maybe we should buy food for the deer... WHAT?
Ok.. that foolishness was stopped, and a bunch of those deer starved to death.
The next year, hunting season returned to normal, and the deer problem stopped.

Sorry... but nature isn't all flowery, and if you REMOVE the preditors... someone else has to thin out the amout of critters, or they will over breed and become a nusiance.