Photo: L. Nobles, May 10, 2010, 6:30 AM. Coyotes camouflage well with the dry grass near the Corralitas Public Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)Last Monday, a neighbor sent this photo shot with a cell phone. The neighbor was driving under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave. A pair of coyotes were having breakfast on the slope adjacent the Corralitas Public Staircase.
The neighbor wrote, "I watched them from my car for a minute and after they watched me for a minute they went back to their business--which was ripping apart a bloody carcass. Hope no one is missing a cat!"
I immediately sent word out to the hill's email list. Several neighbors expressed concern about Bojangles, a tabby cat who frequents their backyards. Luckily, Bojangles was wisely laying low for the rest of the day. Bojangles was waiting for his owner at the front door, when she returned home that night.
No one else reported missing animals, so it may have been a gopher, rat or other wildlife. There was nothing left of the kill when I checked at 7AM, the same morning.
Coyotes will be common with or without a wildlife corridor in this neighborhood. Large swaths of open space, as we have in this neighborhood, help coyotes eat a more balanced diet of wild prey sources rather than just trash and pets. For more on living with coyotes and other wildlife, see: City Dept. of Animal Services' website.
Editor's note: Ordinarily, I would have posted this the same day received, but the Menlo Property took too much of my time last week. Send us your neighborhood wildlife encounters: redcarproperty@gmail.com. Never attempt to feed or touch wildlife.
