Coyote Chases Dog in Red Deer

       Tonight I was out for my usual bike ride and stopped to chat with Mike. We were 100m from the bike trail into Bower Woods.

       As we were talking I noticed a mid sized dog running down the middle of the road away from the bike trail. I thought "wow" a loose dog. About a minute later I noticed a coyote standing on the bike trail about 15m from the side walk. The coyote stood for about a minute and was probably watching us and wondering,"Where did that dog go?" The coyote quietly turned around and went back into Bower Woods.

      You often hear of coyotes chasing dogs and preying on dogs, but this is the first time I have seen an incident. Bower Woods is right beside a residential area. Bower Woods is about 80 hectares of variable habitat with a creek running though. I went on the bike trail a few minutes after the coyote left and there were many people on the trail: walkers, runners, families and people walking dogs.  

     Coyotes are common in this area and are common in Red Deer as we have natural areas left along the river and streams. These natural areas are connected so it's a good habitat for wildlife. Coyotes eat a wide variety of material in the wild. The other side of Bower Woods is a large shopping mall. I would think the coyotes would find much very edible garbage in the mall parking lot each night.

      Let me know if you have seen any incidents where coyotes are chasing dogs.