A group of coyotes has been playing on the rooftops in central Ballard.
A member of the My Ballard Group on Facebook, Miranda Dubé, reports that she has seen three to four coyotes living near her home on Jones Avenue NW, between NW 73rd Street and NW 75th Street.
“They are outside almost all day,” Dubé wrote in her post. “We see them in the morning and at night.”
Coyote sightings are common in Seattle, and especially in Ballard. If you see a coyote, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) says to do the following:
- Never run away from a coyote! Stand tall, make eye contact with the coyote, and shout at it. You can also throw something at it.
- Make loud noises, wave sticks, squirt it with a hose, or otherwise “haze” the coyote if it approaches. This “humane hazing” can help re-establish the coyote’s natural fear of people.
And to avoid conflicts with coyotes, WDFW says the following:
- Don’t leave small children unattended where coyotes are frequently seen or heard
- Never feed coyotes
- Don’t give coyotes access to garbage
- Feed dogs and cats indoors
- Keep dogs and cats indoors, especially from dusk to dawn
- Modify landscaping so coyotes can’t hide in shrubs and trees
- Build a coyote-proof fence
Rather than removing them from areas, WDFW recommends hazing instead because they say removal is not a long-term solution…