CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Rockport resident Misty Young said last Tuesday a set of coyotes attacked four of her peacocks in her backyard.
"I found four of my peahens, dead in their coups," Young said.
Young said at first she thought it was dogs that attacked her birds. She filed a report with Aransas County Animal Services to press charges on the owners of the dogs, but she then came to find out it was not dogs, but coyotes.
“We put up a bunch of cameras and we found coyotes, first night a little juvenile came though to dig up the caucuses where we had buried them," Young said.
Wendy Laubach, the Chair for Aransas County Animal Welfare Committee, in a county with 23,000 people, coyote encounters will happen.
"They are definitely around, they don’t see them, they don’t frequently come to they yards the way you would see raccoon, possums, or armadillos," Laubach said
Young said even though there is not much to do because the coyotes are native to the area, she hopes the situation does not get worse.
"It’s frustrating, I meant it’s wildlife there is not a whole lot you can do about it like I said, the more land we clear the more pressure it put’s on the animals, they have to have somewhere to go," she said.
Texas Parks and Wildlife officials also said coyote attacks are rare and the animals normally only come out at night to hunt for food. So it’s important to keep your pets safe and not allow them to roam freely to avoid an incident.
Officials said to quickly notify your authorities if you encounter an aggressive coyote.
"Coyotes tend to stay further out that is not to say they do not ever come in but they will, especially if you leave chickens or peacocks (out), they will go after them," Laubach said.
"They are doing what animals do, however they are being a nuisance, I wish they would do it out in the woods, and not in my backyard," Young said
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