Coyotes have animal owners on edge

PARKLAND, Fla. (WSVN) -- Officials are warning Parkland residents to keep their pets indoors and to secure their livestock, after coyotes were noticed preying on animals in the area.

So far, they have killed four of Cindy Navarro's cats, and she said, 41 other animals on the block. Now she's over it and hunting them down with the help of surveillance cameras. "I believe a coyote came down the street, through the Eureka palms ... You can see where he came in and came up through here and attacked the cats right under the lights," she recalled.

Her surveillance cameras captured video that showed there are indeed coyotes in the area. "That is definitely a coyote. I've been around coyotes before. I know how they walk. That is a coyote," she said.

Navarro added that "the coyotes are getting very brazen They're coming through the lights and everything, and it's lousy."

Last week, Marie Gosser blamed coyotes for the July 21 death of some of her farm's sheep, and she is also angry.

Matthew Seacrist said coyotes ate chickens at Second Chance Rescue for Horses and even attacked a horse. "I keep my eyes on them all the time, he said. "I have cameras that are watching them and everything, and what comes on to the property ... for their protection. Occasionally, I'll pop out here at night and take a peak at them because I have [older horses] in the back there. I've got as 45-year-old pony that hobbles around. He's prey."

Seacrist said he set up traps after, he said, the city did nothing. "They will go after chickens, sheep, goat and small prey, but in cases they will try to take a horse, they will go for its neck."

Arlene George cares for Reggie the horse on the ranch and is worried. "I'll be coming out more frequently," she said.

Meanwhile, Navarro said she cannot help but be vigilant. "I don't get any sleep," she said. "I'm up here all night just looking for them. That's my life right now. It's terrible. I'm afraid to lose another animal."

Wildlife officials said there is not much they can do about the coyotes. Jorge Pino, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said, "So what we need to do is learn to live with these animals. People may consider it a problem, but the fact is that coyotes have been a part of the Florida culture for quite some time. They have been here for a long time, and they will continue to be here."

A commission meeting to address concerns of animal owners has been scheduled at City Hall this coming Wednesday.

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