HOUSTON – The Aberdeen Green subdivision in northwest Harris County is a sleepy suburban community where many families feel comfortable walking with their children and dogs on warm summer evenings.
Rafael Paez lives there with his wife and four young children and was letting his three Schnauzers out around 11 p.m. Wednesday night just as he was getting ready for bed.
"As soon as they left, I could hear howling and screeching," Paez said.
He thought his three dogs were fighting with a dog in the neighborhood, so he rushed outside to see what was going on.
Two of his dogs bolted toward him with what Paez described as a "coyote the size of a German shepherd" chasing them.
"Then I realized I was missing one dog and I could still hear the shrieks in the distance," he said.
Paez spotted a pack of about a dozen coyotes pouncing on his youngest dog, Lucky.
"They weren't biting him, they were crushing him. And so instinct is I've got to protect my dog."
He tried to shout and flail his arms to scare them, but the animals continued to attack.
When one of the coyotes lurched toward Paez, he fired his gun at the ground and the coyotes scattered.
Paez rushed to his dog's side, but he was already dead.
"It wasn't until I picked him up that I realized they had crushed him completely."
Neighbor Carlos Ortiz heard the commotion that night, and was concerned about his own two dogs after he learned what happened.
"We walk our dogs now prepared for the worst," Ortiz said.
Paez' main concern is the safety of his four young children, the youngest just 6 months old.
Ortiz is equally concerned by the number of coyotes that have been spotted wandering the subdivision.
"If it's one or two, you could scare it off ... but 12? That's kind of freaky," Ortiz said.
Texas Parks and Wildlife concedes that coyotes have become a common sight in urban and suburban areas as housing developments have expanded.
Experts offer some precautions you can take to manage coyotes:
· Do not feed coyotes. Keep pet food and water inside. Keep garbage securely stored, especially if it has to be put on the curb for collection; use tight-locking or bungee-cord-wrapped trashcans that are not easily opened.
· Keep compost piles securely covered; correct composting never includes animal matter like bones or fat, which can draw coyotes more quickly than decomposing vegetable matter.
· Keep pets inside, confined securely in a kennel or covered exercise yard, or within the close presence of an adult.
· Walk pets on a leash and accompany them outside, especially at night.
· Do not feed wildlife on the ground; keep wild bird seed in feeders designed for birds elevated or hanging above ground, and clean up spilled seed from the ground; coyotes can either be drawn directly to the seed, or to the rodents drawn to the seed.
· Keep fruit trees fenced or pick up fruit that falls to the ground.
· Do not feed feral cats; this can encourage coyotes to prey on cats, as well as feed on cat food left out for them.
· Minimize clusters of shrubs, trees and other cover and food plants near buildings and children's play areas to avoid attracting rodents and small mammals that will in turn attract coyotes.
· Use noise-making and other scaring devices when coyotes are seen. Check with local authorities regarding noise and firearms ordinances. Portable air horns, motor vehicle horns, propane cannons, starter pistols, low-powered pellet guns, slingshots and thrown rocks can be effective.