Coyote killed on Eastgate trail

Three days after a coyote attacked two Eastside children, a state Fish and Wildlife agent shot and killed a coyote along an Eastgate trail today.

The agent, Sgt. Kim Chandler, said the animal was probably among those threatening people and wildlife in the area.

On Tuesday, a 1-1/2-year-old boy was bitten on the ear while he was playing under the supervision of his parents at Eastgate Elementary School, and within a couple of hours, a 4-year-old boy was bitten on his buttocks while playing outside his Eastgate home.

That led officials to set traps for the coyotes, and a heightened effort to look for them.

Chandler said he saw a TV newscast Thursday evening, during which was aired a video by a man with a cellphone video camera. The film showed the man's own encounter with a coyote.

Chandler immediately recognized the area, since he had just been there Thursday morning, scouting out possible places for coyote traps.

The trail is at a dead end of Southeast 37th Street, just a few hundred feet south of Interstate 90, leading from a motel parking lot east of 150th Avenue Southeast.

Chandler returned to the area early this morning. He used what is known as a predator call, trying to draw the animal out. As he was walking back down the trail, he saw a coyote.

The animal stopped on the trail, he said. "He absolutely saw me. He had no fear of me whatsoever."

The animal then began approaching him, Chandler said, and he drew his .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol and finally decided to fire.

Then he fired again, and missed a second time, explaining that he was trying to prevent hitting the animal in the head, since the brain is used to do rabies tests.

The animal then nearly disappeared, but then "peeked out from behind a tree," and Chandler, from about 25 feet away, tried one last time — this time successfully. The carcass was recovered, and is being examined for evidence of rabies.

"This was just blind dumb luck that I was here," he said.

Wildlife officials also are continuing with their efforts to trap and control other coyotes, Chandler added, and it's expected there are several or many other of the predators in the area.

Chandler noted that the beasts eat cats and pet food and warned residents against providing any food for the animals, but also added that the terrain is ideal for coyotes and other predators.