Coyote stalks, charges man and dog on Edmonds, WA trail
Coyote stalks, charges man in Edmonds
Another close call with a coyote was reported in western Washington, with a man in Edmonds saying the wild animal lunged at him and his dog.
EDMONDS, Wash. - A man walking his dog on the Southwest County Trail in Edmonds says a coyote charged and stalked them, following them all the way out to Olympic View Drive.
The backstory:
Jerome Thiebaud recalled the encounter to FOX 13.
"For me, it was just a display of, like, ‘okay, you need to leave,’" said Thiebaud.
He said there was barking and even howling. However, he left the woods.
"I’m a big guy, so I was never afraid they were going to be attacking me or jumping on me," said Thiebaud. "But when you have a coyote that’s stalking you — you’re uncomfortable."
The man said he grabbed a stick, which seemed to deter the coyote slightly, but for 15 minutes he kept looking back to find it inching closer.
West Seattle neighbors report dozens of coyote sightings
Coyotes are most active at night and during the early morning hours, but that hasn’t been the case recently.
Despite the scare, Thiebaud said he doesn’t want harm to come to the animal.
After posting about the encounter on Facebook, Thiebaud and others shared theories about what happened.
"It was a female — she most likely had a den nearby," said Theibaud. "And she said, ‘okay, those guys need to get out of there.’"
Thiebaud added that he has noticed new behaviors among coyotes in the area. He thinks the change in activity began this past winter. What used to be the occasional sightings at dusk have become far more frequent.
"A lot more, closer to the homes," he said.
"My only message is don’t feed, don’t feed the animals and most importantly don’t feed the coyotes. It’s like bears — when they get used to human food they will come back."
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife does not ask the public to report ordinary coyote sightings. Instead, encounters can be logged through the Woodland Park Zoo’s Carnivore Spotter program.
The Source: Information in this story came from original FOX 13 Seattle interviews and reporting.
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