Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    	I would call the fish and game in Dallas and ask them.
    
    	I read an article that said coyotes will hang out near
    	cities because they like to scavange, but I think you
    	would see them where you are moving to, also. I never
    	heard anything about them attacking cats, but I would
    	believe it. 
    
    	Good luck...
    
    	Sherry
    
    

    I would believe it.  My vet recently told me to keep my cats in at
    night (I do anyway).  A client of his lost 3 cats to a fox within 
    a 6 month (?) period.  Are coyotes nocturnal?
    

I read an article in New York Magazine this week saying that coyotes
had taken up residence in some county in Connecticut (near NY, maybe
Fairfield county).  It explicitly said that cats could be eaten by
coyotes and that cats should be kept in at night in that area.    

Pam

    
    	THANKS for the info folks!  We are leaving to "check out"
    	Dallas on Feb 4th... that will really be on my mind.
    
    	We plan on driving around anyway and I will be needing to stop
    	off at some farms (ranches?) and inquire types of horse feed
    	hay etc... I am sure that some of them will have cats - I will
    	ask their feeling about this.  I wouldn't mind if Spud would
    	have to be in for the night - but that won't work if he will
    	still be in danger during the day too..
    
    	We have Fisher Cats near us and one that I have seen is larger
    	then my dog who is 25 lbs!   I have never heard of them attacking
    	any cats or dogs in our area (yet) and the Spud doesn't wander
    	too far from home..  But "things" may need to hussle a bit
    	more for food in Texas..    AND he isn't a figher either.
    
    	(sigh... this does make it tough!)
    
    		Thanks again for your input.  At least I don't feel
    	that my worries are silly...
    	Susan

    I live in western Mass. in the Berkshire Hills. It is wild country,
    we have ALL KINDS of wild 'things' including eastern coyotes.
    
    Our coyotes only get near houses late at night. They hunt ANY
    small animals. 
    
    I never let my cats out at night. First of all cats seem to (me)
    to cover a much larger range at night than during the day. And
    in our area the cars in the daytime drive at quite low speeds,
    late at night (11:00 P.M. to 5:00 A.M.) there are not more than
    3 or 4 cars a night but they drive like something headed for hell.
    
    In the thirty five years I have lived here I have not lost any 
    cats to, nor do I know of any one loosing cats to cars or coyotes.
    But I think the nighttime holds too many risks for little
    furfaces.
    
    Kirk
     

    TAKE NOTICE!!!!  I would be very careful if I were you!  I recently
    moved to southern Arizona and live by the mountains where coyote are
    all over the place.  Yes, the will catch your cats if they are out at
    night and to be honest, i've seen several coyote out during broad
    daylight.  I wouldn't leave my cats out at all in an area that has
    coyotes!   And by the way, they are very bold.  They walk right up to
    the house and look into the windows.  I can usually tell, because when
    my cats see one outside the window, it's plenty of yelling and hissing
    going on, if you know what I mean!      Also, my neighbors dog got
    caught by a coyote and it was badly damaged before the fight could be
    stopped.
    
    
    I don't mean to scare you.  Actually coyotes are wonderful creatures,
    but they do have to eat to and will take advantage of what ever they
    can!
    
    
    Jeanne
    

    I live in Westminster and we have coyotes now coming down from an area
    that they are over-building in.  I don't let my cats out at all.  There 
    are a few "wild" cats and I'm doing my best to bring them in because 
    I'm afraid they'll get hurt.
    
    Of course I'm trying to get a coyote pup too.....
    

      A recent article in one of the Humane Society magazines--don't recall
    wether it was HSUS or MSPCA's "Animals" magazine, had an extensive
    article about coyotes. The Coyote is VERY active and present almost all
    over the lower 48 states. The suspected population in the state of
    Vermont itself is estimated to be well over 10,000. Coyotes have been
    seen ambling very nonchalantly down I-85 in the middle of Hartford Ct.
    One was found living in an abandoned car within a hundred yards of an
    occupied house in New Hampshire, and the bones that were analyzed
    turned out to be a combination of woodchucks,domestic cats, squirrels,
    and some rats and mice. 
    
      Coyotes are very clever and elusive animals. Another incident
    occurred in Maine....a Coyote female had lived under a large, spreading
    evergreen in the backyard of a house that had been occupied without
    break for over 100 years, so she was surely there with people living
    within 50 yards of her. The people living ther SWORE that they'd never
    seen her nor the estimated dozen or so litters of pups that she'd
    raised. Again, bones of cats were found. The Coyote is more dangerous
    than foxes or wolves because of one simple fact: They don't FEAR man
    like the others do. Instead, they've learned to adapt to man's
    presence, and simply live with him, albeit very elusively.
    
    
      Another creature that loves to kill and eat domestic cats is the Owl.
    Large Owls such as the Great Horned Owl can EASILY kill and carry off a
    cat. Even if the attack is not successful, the injury and trauma to a
    cat that has been hit by a 7 to 10 pound bird flying silently at about
    20-25 mph with 8 very long and sharp talons would suffer horrendous
    injuries. 
    
      So...not to begin "THAT" discussion again, but I for one won't let my
    kitty-kids run around outside. And they don't seem to really have any
    problem with the eight rooms and good food and soft things that they
    are allowed to lie on. And since my cats are domestic animals, they
    have no need to hunt and kill things...and/or be in a position to be
    hurt and/or killed by other animals--either two-legged in their
    metal-monsters or by wild animals and birds looking for an easy meal..
    
    JM 

    Definitely, coyotes and coydogs (crossed between coyotes and domestic
    dogs) will prey upon cats if hungry and within easy reach.  They cannot
    distinguish between a domestic cat and a rabbit and since most of their
    natural prey is being eliminated, they survive the best way they can.
    
    I live in So. New Hampshire and we have coydogs in our area.  Though I
    keep my cats indoors, my neighbor has in/outdoor cats and has lost more
    to coydogs than to the traffic on the road.
    
    I also read once where in California coyotes had been seen running out
    of yards with a pet, small dog or cat in their mouths.  Once had even
    gone over a fence to get it's prey - a toy poodle.
    
    I'd rather "sing those litterbox blues" than lose one of my fur faces
    to a fate like that.
    
    Pat, Holly, D.P., Thai, Buffy, Midnight (& Cookie, MY toy poodle).
    

    re: .0 and .6
    
    My uncle lost a small *dog* in Tucson to coyotes about 2 yrs ago; can't
    speak specifically about Dallas, but there's no reason to think it's
    any different there.  One of my friends in Tucson was moving out to the
    eastern foothills with a cat, and I warned him about leaving his cat
    unattended, especially at night (the same for their dogs, too).  
    The same goes for here in Colorado Springs, in Dallas, and anywhere else.
    
    Be *very* careful leaving your cats outside unattended there.

I'm from New Mexico/Texas part of the U.S. and I lived near Dallas for
a year.  Yes, there are several critters that will hurt/kill/eat a domestic
feline if given a chance...cats that are indoor-only are safe, but you
do risk losing a cat who is allowed outside.  Coyote, in particular,
learn very quickly that a domestic feline is an easy meal and they are
indiginous to the whole southwestern U.S. - They thrive near any city
or town because they like taking the easy way out if possible.  What many
people don't realize is that raccoon can kill cats - and WILL if they
encounter them.  Near the Houston area, you have the additional worry
of alligator - they eat cats too!

Best advice I can offer - keep your pet an indoor-only cat with trips
outside limited to leashed walks (always accompanied by a human).

Just for the record:

The coyote near a town or city learns quickly that the easy food animals
(dogs and cats) are indoors at night...and they start hunting during the
day!  It is quite common to see them in broad daylight in Texas and N.M.
so I would not depend on keeping your cat in at night to protect him/her.

    
    And in addition to coyotes, if you live near the foothills here in 
    Colorado you get to be concerned about mountain lions.

    Oh boy, you people really do live in the WILD west! Lions !!!!
    
    I feel really inferior - we've only got foxes!
    
    Lisa plus P&P who prefer foxes to lions!
    

      This month's issue of "Yankee" Magazine has an extensive
    article--even though it is VERY biased by the deer-shooting
    lobby--about the Coyote in the state of Maine...
    
    JM