Early summer means more coyote sightings in rural areas; animals are a threat to pets

Rural residents should be reminded that this time of year is when coyote sightings and attacks are on the rise, Eyragon Eidam reports for the Auburn Journal in northern California. Spring and early summer are considered prime rearing season for pups, meaning coyotes often spend as much as 20 hours a day hunting, said Janice Mackey, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. (Heidi Babcock took this photo of her dog Piper after she was attacked by coyotes in Auburn)

"This drive to find food can and does bring coyotes toward human-inhabited areas," Eidam writes. This means that human-coyote encounters are on the rise, as well as pet-coyote encounters. And if coyotes, which usually hunt in pairs, have food and pups in the area they tend to get more aggressive, leading them to attack pets they see as threats, Mackey said. (Read more)