Coyote Kills Cat In Newton
NEWTON (CBS) - A photograph showing a coyote with a neighborhood cat in its mouth has residents on edge in the Auburndale section of Newton.
Joyce Hynds, who photographed the coyote on Saturday morning with an orange tabby cat hanging from its mouth, is warning residents to be vigilant.
The coyote was seen around the Auburn playground in the Auburndale neighborhood of Newton around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Hynds later posted the photograph to Facebook.
"Warning! Please be aware when letting your cats or dogs out, this coyote... is in my Auburndale neighborhood!" she wrote on Facebook.
"I was stunned," Hynds told WBZ. "I was amazed at how large he was."
Hynds had her two 80 pound black labs with her. "They were barking, growling at him like crazy and he didn't even flinch," Hynds said.
About a dozen coyote sightings are reported in Newton every month and while the picture in this instance is certainly graphic, police say it does not by itself make the coyote a threat or even a nuisance.
"This isn't unusual, it's just unusual because a picture was seen of it," said Newton Police Lt. Bruce Apotheker.
So for now, authorities are not planning to catch or kill it. "It is protected wildlife," Apotheker said.
Instead, police are urging residents in the neighborhood along the woodsy, Charles River not to let their pets outside unattended -- and Katie Rissmiller is following that advice with her cat.
"We have to respect our animal neighbors, they live here too," Rissmiller said.
Police are also urging parents to closely watch their youngsters at the nearby playground.