Coyotes Kill Family Dog In Natick
NATICK (CBS) – A Natick family has a warning for neighbors after their dog was killed by coyotes.
"Jack" the Cairn terrier cautiously led us out to the Terrace Road backyard to the spot where his brother "Gooner" was ambushed by a pair of coyotes Tuesday morning.
"I was scared, I was petrified," said 14-year-old Carter Warner. "It was not something I liked watching."
Carter, who always took the dogs out before school, was able to grab Jack, but could do nothing for Gooner as the big, snarling coyotes ripped into him.
"Eventually they dragged him off into the woods," Carter said.
The woods are the adjoining hundred acres of the Hunnewell Town Forest, filled with walking trails and wildlife.
"You can hear them all night long, it's brutal," said neighbor Rich McGrath.
Coyote sightings -- both day and night -- have become routine for neighbors here who've had cats vanish and seen squirrels snatched right off bird-feeders -- as the predators get more and more aggressive.
"They're not friendly, they're coming to eat, to survive so I'd like to see something done about it," said McGrath.
The death of her dog Gooner prompted Deb Nichols to call Natick selectmen, urging them to authorize the trapping or killing of these coyotes, something officials traditionally frown upon.
"I don't think any of us should have to be worried about letting our pets out in our yards or our children out in our yards," Deb Nichols said. "I think it's time we start to do something about it."
But for now, at least, it's leashes all around no matter how short or safe the outing might seem.
Deb Nichols says she hopes to hear back from town officials in the next couple of days and she plans to contact her State Rep. In the meantime, the coyote howls coming the woods are making folks here more and more uneasy.
In Milton on Saturday, a group of coyotes attacked a dog at a golf course.