Coyote Concerns At Everett Cemetery
EVERETT (CBS) - A Bellingham grandmother wants to see warning signs at the Everett cemetery where her parents are buried, after she had a frightening encounter with coyotes. "Yes, I was nervous they were going to come after me," said Marie Cialdea.
Cialdea was at Glenwood Cemetery Monday afternoon, grooming the flowers around her parents' headstones. Her Mom died just last month. She had just finished when she spotted a pair of coyotes watching her.
"Here I was alone," said Cialdea. "I was grieving and I was worried – not paying attention to my surroundings – and there they were behind me."
Frightened, she quickly snapped a picture and retreated to the safety of her car, before flagging down the cruiser of a passing police officer.
"And I said 'Well, can we do something about this?'" Cialdea recalled, "And she said 'No.'"
No, because as several officials would later tell her, the coyotes are longtime tenants at Glenwood – and three adjacent cemeteries – with no history of bothering visitors. The advice from state wildlife experts on co-existing with coyotes hasn't changed for years. Don't' feed them and don't approach them. That way, they won't equate humans with food and won't feel cornered.
"They're fine," said Al Perez. "As long as you're careful."
Al Perez and his wife came to visit her Mom's grave at neighboring Woodlawn Cemetery Tuesday night, harboring no animosity toward the four-legged residents they often encounter here.
"Stomp your foot and they usually run right off," said Perez. "That's my experience with them."
Coyotes not deemed a nuisance or a threat are protected in this state.
"It scared me," says Marie Cialdea.
But when Cialdea took her story to Facebook, she heard from quite a few other folks – many elderly – who's coyote concerns made them apprehensive about cemetery visits. She would like to see some form of warning posted.
"I feel that they shouldn't be where the public is," Cialdea said shaking her head. "At least have a sign up."
For now, though, those who come to pay their respects to the dead – must also respect the living.