BURST
Scott Towers put on a blue jacket, grabbed a leash for his dog and headed out at around 8 a.m. on Tuesday for what was supposed to be a sunny holiday walk.
The longtime Port Coquitlam resident lives just a block from Blakeburn Lagoons Park, where kids play at three playgrounds and residents enjoy walks along forested trails.
Hazel, a four-year-old mini-golden doodle, stopped to do her business near the west entrance to the lagoons. Out of the corner of Towers’ eye, he spotted something emerging from the bush.
“I stopped right away,” said Towers.
The coyote locked eyes with Towers, who tightened his grip on Hazel’s leash, though his dog remained unaware of the potential danger. Towers and his dog began to backtrack slowly.
Suddenly, a second coyote exited the bush. The coyotes began making their way toward Towers and soon broke into a trot.
“When I turned around and saw them running, that’s when I started running,” Towers recounted.
The coyotes were about 60 metres from Towers, just enough distance to give him a head start. He kept Hazel close to his side as they sprinted home, unaware the coyotes were gaining on him.
Towers rounded a corner, past parked cars and beelined straight for his yard. He shoved open his gate, ushered Hazel through and slammed the gate shut, with the coyotes less than three metres away. He peered through a hole in the gate and watched as the coyotes slowly slinked away.
“This was a full-on chase, like a hunt,” he said, adding that he was shaken by the experience.
Most residents in Metro Vancouver are familiar with pup season, a spring period of increased coyote activity due to parents protecting their young.
But according to Stanley Park Ecology, late summer through winter is dispersal season , a time when young coyotes are ready to leave their dens, explore and venture out on their own.
Home surveillance footage collected from Towers’ yard and that of a neighbour shows just how quickly the coyotes caught up to Towers.
In a clip that could’ve been pulled from a found-footage horror film, Towers is seen rounding the corner of a yard; in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, the coyotes cut across the yard, hidden from Towers’ view as they streak past a bush.
“That really hit home, like, holy cow. You don’t realize how aggressive these were,” he said in reaction to seeing the footage.
“It happened just like I thought it happened. I didn’t make the first move, I didn’t do anything to provoke them. We stopped and started backing up and then they came after us and that’s when I started running.”
Towers has often seen coyotes while leaving for work early in the morning but never during such a busy time of day. After Towers calmed down, he reported the encounter to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
But just as Towers was calling the wildlife hotline, another resident faced down a coyote encounter in the same park, just on the other side.
DeeDee Dunsmuir was out walking her chihuahua-mix rescues, Jayda and Nova, through Blakeburn Park when a passerby cautioned her to two coyotes laying low in the grass, hidden in the valley between two hills.
“They were just kind of minding their own business so I picked up my small dog,” said Dunsmuir, who has lived nearby for two decades.
The coyotes didn’t seem to notice Dunsmuir but to be safe, she exited the park and crossed the street. As she made her way, one of the coyotes perked up. Dunsmuir described how one of the coyotes got up, scooted under a fence and onto the sidewalk, going so far as to step into the road toward her.
As cars passed, the coyote stepped back onto the sidewalk multiple times, before trying to enter the roadway again.
Dunsmuir waved at passing drivers, in hopes one would honk their horn to scare off the coyote. Finally, a driver in a truck pulled over to ask if she was OK. She pointed out the coyote trying to cross, which prompted the driver to remain stopped and shield Dunsmuir until she was a safe distance away.
Dunsmuir expressed shock at the coyote’s brazen attempts to follow her. She later called conservation officers to report the encounter.
“I’ve seen them plenty of times and they have never approached me. If I just keep my distance and walk and mind my own business, they’ve never approached me,” she said.
The encounters come just days after a cougar was spotted in the same park, and after a video of a black bear being chased by two coyotes in a nearby parking lot went viral.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service told Postmedia News it “is aware of these incidents and are monitoring the situation” but didn’t share what steps would be taken or if the two coyotes had been located. It also doesn’t track encounters with coyotes.
“The COS will continue to monitor coyote activity in the area and respond as necessary to ensure public safety,” read the statement.
Conservation officers were also spotted in the neighbourhood on Wednesday afternoon, posting warning signs.
The service reminded residents to travel in groups, ensure pets are leashed and not to turn and run “because this may encourage coyotes to chase.” Instead, individuals should be “big, brave and loud to scare coyotes.”
Towers is aware of the safety recommendations on how to handle wildlife encounters but feels it was a case of being “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t think it would have ended differently if I had tried that tactic,” he said.