Encountering Wild Animals on Walks?

1609 Views 19 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Keechak, Jul 17, 2012

Amaryllis

Discussion Starter · Jul 12, 2012

I know some of our members live in areas where they more regularly encounter wild animals, but I'm an urban dweller. The most "wild" animal I usually encounter is a skunk, and they're not so much wild as really annoying. So maybe someone less urban can help me.

Where I live is surrounded by mountains, so the outer edges of the city do occasionally get bears and mountain lions, but I live well into the city and have never seen anything like that. Until last night.

Kabota and I were almost home from our after work walk when I looked over and saw a black cat crouched against a car about 20 feet away. It was pure black with yellow eyes and strange, enlongated ears. It really caught my attention and I was staring at it when I realized that in order for the cat's back to hit the top of the hubcap on the car, the cat would have to be at least Kabota's size, 45lbs.

There are no housecats that big. Here's what I saw:

My question is, any tips for this sort of thing? Kabota didn't notice the bobcat, but if he had, he would have gone for it. He's not afraid. And while he's protected from rabies, I'd be on the other end of the 5' leash and I'm not vaxxed for rabies. Plus, I doubt I could get a bobcat off of Kabota in time to save his life if the bobcat decided to attack him. I'm also not sure that my "hit it over the head with a breakstick" technique will work as well for a wild cat as for a domesticated dog.

Thanks.

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HollowHeaven

· #9 · Jul 12, 2012

spanielorbust said:
. . . except for Coyotes, I'd agree with RCloud. Coyotes here have grabbed a Yorkie and a Pom mix with their owners within 30 feet, but there are also many days they are so close beside my back fence I could reach out and touch them.

I don't trust coyote's as far as I could throw one.
Not that I trust any wild animal, but if I had to pick one to fear on all occasions, it's gonna be them.

I have personally witnessed them initiating play with dogs, usually with a female or a pup, then leading them off into an ambush. My father once had a Walker Coonhound who had his paw bitten through by one. It simply walked up to him, friendly one minute, the next we hear this poor dog screaming. A coyote has him by the foot. They taunt my two. Diesel wants to kill them, but Aleu is friendly with them, which is just not a good combination.
I have heard stories of coyotes -and foxes- following people while out walking their dogs. Quite closely at that.

So, aside from coyotes, most wild animals will either ignore you or get up and scurry off. They might watch but probably won't act. Just remain calm, try to keep your dog calm, and keep an eye on them as you pass.

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