By: Sharon Aron Baron
One homeowner had a close encounter with a coyote while walking her dogs in the Woodlands.
It happened while Section 7 resident Marie Mooney was walking her two dogs behind her home near the 4th hole of the east course around 7:00 pm on Wednesday. Titan, a 14 year-old Jack Russell and Miniature Pincher mix who is blind, was on the leash, while her other dog Tia, a Feist, was close to her but off the leash. Both weigh about 17 pounds.
Out of the corner of Marie’s eye, she spotted a coyote lurking nearby. The coyote was very thin and grey in color, and Marie estimated he weighed around 60 pounds.
The coyote didn’t seem to notice Marie, but had its eyes focused on Titan and was crouching closer and closer seemingly fixated on the small dog.
Marie knew that coyotes were afraid of humans and started running towards him.
“I knew to make myself look larger, and so I raised my voice, arms, and charged the coyote,” said Marie. “The coyote was 20 feet from my dog. I had to close the gap because I was 40 feet way.”
The coyote ran away.
It wasn’t until later that Marie realized the danger her dogs could have been in around the hungry-looking coyote.
“People find courage in very strange circumstances,” said Marie.
Marie and David have only been living in the Woodlands for a year. They moved from Tampa after David retired from the US Coast Guard.
“This was not a coyote sighting, If I wasn’t there, my dog would have been attacked,” said Marie. She suggests to other residents that if their dogs are off-leash, to make sure they are close to them.
“The biggest thing I learned is that everyone is aware of them, but to have them so close….it was in a position where it was hunting my dog,” she said.
