Coyote Sprints into Arizona Home to Take a Nap
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.15.14
Jonathan Radow of Scottsdale, Arizona was heading to work last Thursday when he found himself grappling with a home intrusion—by a 25-pound coyote. Radow told KPHO that the coyote may have been attracted to the house by his small terrier, which would have been a large snack for the predator. Radow and his neighbor tried to shoo the coyote away, but the predator instead hightailed it inside Radow’s house, eventually taking refuge in his fireplace. Amazingly, the coyote then appeared to fall asleep.
“It [was] in full-on, 100 percent I-am-just-going-to-bed-and-I-had-a-long-night-out kind of sleep,” Radow recounted.
Radow, his wife, and their neighbor tried using a variety of methods to wake up the animal and drive it out of the fireplace, but their attempts were fruitless. Even after throwing objects at the coyote and shaking a pair of maracas, the tiny predator refused to budge. Radow said he had a handgun nearby just in case things got out of hand. Animal control experts eventually arrived and were able to rouse the coyote with a broom and capture it.
The coyote is currently in the custody of the Scottsdale Southwest Wildlife Center, where experts identified the animal as a young male. Center employees say that while the coyote may have appeared to been asleep, it likely was in a state of terrified paralysis.
“He just kind of shut down, he was probably so afraid, not knowing and had never been in a house before and had no idea where he was,” caretaker Kim Carr told Fox 10.
Carr said the coyote will be kept for another three weeks and then released in a less populated area. As for Radow, he is just happy that his terrier did not wind up as lunch for an adventuring coyote.
You can see an interview with Radow below:
