Mornings and evenings this spring on Capitol Hill have included occasional reports of sightings of shy, elusive neighbors.
Thanks to a reader, CHS can share a glimpse of one of these amazing city dwellers.
Tim Schluttenhofer took the picture in Interlaken Park on Sunday afternoon and reported the peaceful encounter to CHS.
Reports of coyote sightings around the Hill seem to have risen this month. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s North Puget Sound – Region 4 office has said that urban coyote reports pretty much always increase in the spring when pups are born and the drive for food and protecting young increases.
Thanks to Tim Schluttenhofer for sharing with CHS
Most recently, CHS heard from one neighbor reporting a coyote near 18th Ave’s St Joseph’s as the school day started while another flurry of recent reports documented a coyote’s brief adventure near Cal Anderson Park, of all places.
More typically, the path between Volunteer Park, the Interlaken greenbelt, and the Arboretum is the more common Capitol Hill coyote travel corridor.
The urban forest and overgrown ravines provide enough cover away from humans for coyotes to somehow continue in the city. The booming population of eastern cottontail rabbits surely helps.
Still, encounters are rare. The last Capitol Hill coyote to make a CHS headline was this one’s path across the neighborhood including a sighting at Bellevue and Pike.
Coyotes aren’t known to be threatening to humans though wildlife officials note they can be a danger to pets.
In 2012, the Department of Agriculture was brought in to hunt down and kill a Volunteer Park-area coyote after it exhibited aggressive behavior. The field necropsy performed by the federal biologist showed the coyote was around six or seven years old. It survived what is described as a “traumatic hip injury” at some point in its life and “had a normal number of external parasites, such as ticks and lice.”
Meanwhile, enjoy your walks in Interlaken with your Capitol Hill neighbors.
Crows vs owl in Interlaken. Owl said something fresh, undoubtedly pic.twitter.com/34LyOimQHq
— jseattle (@jseattle) May 17, 2021
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Has anyone else seen a (the?) coyote in Lakeview cemetery?
I was expecting this news for the last week or two having seen signs on telephone poles, in the streets around Volunteer Park, about 3 different missing cats (“pumpkin” and two others I can’t remember right off). Pro tip: Those cats are never going to be found.
Same thing happened in 2012 which is how I knew what those telephone pole signs meant.
I’m glad the author is happy that we’re coexisting with nature here on Capitol Hill – I’m with you! Too many disease-ridden cats in the neighborhood right now: this nice neighborly coyote will solve that problem (let’s hope he has friends with him, like back 8 years ago).
Another plus: now that I think of it, is I haven’t spotted any cute little bunny rabbits in the area either this spring. Stupid pests, destroying gardens, goodbye!