Belvedere urges residents to remain vigilant as they coexist with coyotes

Crest Road resident Bob McCaskill took this image of a coyote near his home earlier this summer. A coyote went after his corgi last fall, but McCaskill was able to scare it off.

About midnight Aug. 19, Esther Robb put her dog, Chelsea, out in her Buckeye Road yard to “do her business” before turning in for the night. Suddenly, Robb said, she heard “awful screaming like (Chelsea) does when she is hurt.” Robb, 94 and using a walker, couldn’t go outside to investigate, so she called Belvedere police. By the time officers arrived all was quiet. They found the dog dead in the yard.

It was the second coyote attack this month on Belvedere Island, and at least the third dog fatality in five years. In each instance, owners had let their dogs out into the yard unaccompanied. City officials are urging residents to coyote-proof their yards and make sure to accompany their dogs outside.

Belvedere officials say reports of coyote conflicts are actually down, and that the city’s comprehensive coyote response plan created one year ago has given many residents strategies for coexisting with coyotes. But the challenge remains, said Vice Mayor Jane Cooper.

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