Investigators in the cat 'mutilation' cases seem to be changing their minds about the extent of human involvement. Today's Denver Post:
Aurora police will seek a wildlife expert's opinion in the future before they rule on the cause of suspicious cat deaths, officials said Thursday.
Members of a metro area task force that is examining a rash of suspicious cat deaths decided they need to rule out wildlife as the cause of future deaths.
(...)
It's not unusual for pets to be killed by wildlife, even in urban areas, said Todd Malmsbury, chief spokesman for the Colorado Divion of Wildlife.
"Many people in Colorado don't realize how common it is for native wildlife to take pets that are running loose," he said.
Owls, foxes, coyotes and even domestic dogs are common predators. He said coyotes are usually seen in suburban areas but sometimes are spotted in open spaces in urban areas.
Malmsbury underplays the number of urban predators when he says they are 'sometimes spotted ... in urban areas.' As I pointed out here, predators are very common even in heavily populated urban zones.
Hopefully the investigators are reading this blog everyday.
I'll cautiously hold off on a big fat 'I told you so.'
Related news: The golf course I curently work at also has a resident coyote. One of the nearby residents lost her Chihuahua a few days ago. The little dog got loose and hasn't been seen since.
Yo quiero Taco Bell?
My Pomeranian has a toy Taco Bell chihuahua that goes, "Rawr!" when she squeezes it. We call it her "boyfriend." She is very brave and very vicious when it comes to confronting a toy chihuahua. Against a coyote, she would be lunch.
Walter, thanks SO MUCH for your INSANELY GENEROUS sponsorship of me in the blogathon. You rock in more ways than I can even count!
The animals at the Denver Dumb Friends League thank you!
BIG HUGS!!!!!
PS -- I'm collecting pet stories to post during the blogathon. If you want to submit one, that would be great! (You can send pics too if you like).
Michael Ditto's story about the cat he rescued would make a good story too (hint hint).
:-)
I live in the Sloan Lake neighborhood, and it's not uncommon to see coyotes and foxes running around in the streets. I've even seen a fox run across Speer Blvd. in downtown Denver. Per the article, do owls really go after 14 lb. housecats?
I used to work on Quebec, between Orchard and Bellevue. There was a fox behind the parking lot there.
I've had reports of bear in our housing development too, east of Castle Rock.
Barbaloot and I snicker over all of the "missing pet" posters in the neighborhood. Fluffy is coyote chow by the time you are aware she's missing.
You guys should get more picture on this page. Too many words