MARYSVILLE — Residents around the Cedarcrest Golf Course recently received an unpleasant surprise, literally right in their backyards, but according to spokespeople with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, as long as area residents exercise some caution, there’s no cause for alarm.
Patti Miranda lives on 70th Drive NE, and on the morning of May 16, she found a neighborhood cat dead in her backyard, the victim of what appeared to be a wild animal attack. After speaking with her neighbors, she heard accounts of sightings of an animal that they believed could have been a raccoon, a coyote, a bobcat or even a cougar. When Miranda placed a call to the local branch of Fish and Wildlife, located in Mill Creek, she was informed that the paw prints did not correspond to larger predators, and was told not to worry, as long as she and her neighbors practiced protective measures toward their pets.
Anita Davies, a Mill Creek Fish and Wildlife spokesperson interviewed by The Marysville Globe, noted that even coyotes are not considered a threat to humans, even children, due to the extreme rarity of such attacks.
“In our entire state history, we’ve only had one such case, and it was an elderly woman who had been feeding a coyote for years,” Davies said. “Coyotes are very common. Every area has them, even downtown Seattle, and the only trap that works for them is illegal.”
Davies warned the local public against alarm, by suggesting a number of tips to allow such wild animals to coexist with both humans and their pets, to help avoid harm coming to either one.
“Keep your garbage secured, clean up your bird-feeder spillage and don’t leave your dog or cat food bowls outside,” Davies said. “If you take away their sources of food, they’ll often go away and leave you alone. Also, keep track of your pets. Stay with your dogs, and don’t let your cats out of their enclosures. It’s not difficult to cohabit with wild animals. If you have questions or concerns, you can call Fish and Wildlife, but please be aware that we already know that these animals are out there.”
In the meantime, Miranda and her neighbors are left to mourn the loss of a cat who’d been adopted by their neighborhood.
“It’s such a sad situation,” Miranda said. “That cat visited all of us. I’m not even a cat-lover, and I’m sorry to see him gone. I don’t want any other families to go through what we did. You think you’re so safe, living in a neighborhood where all the houses are so close to each other, and then, you find something so vicious and awful has happened. We never dreamed it’d be in our own backyard.”
You can contact the Mill Creek branch of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife at 425-775-1311, but Davies deemed the Fish and Wildlife Web site to be the best resource, especially since it includes information on coexisting with Washington wildlife.
