While I don't have to worry about coyote's on Vancouver Island, we have our own predator problems to deal with, as I understand from the previous posts, so does almost any part of the world inhabited by humans, domesticated animals and non domesticated animals. But just like coyotes, the predator we have around here has protection from being harmed as well; it almost makes me mad that my cat is not on an endangered species list.
The predator I'm talking about is eagles. I'm not sure how bad it is in the part of the island where I live, but in Campbell River, not 70 miles from where I am. the problem is so bad that when the eagles are seen out hunting, radio warnings are issued to pet owners to bring their small breed dogs and cats inside. Anyone thinking that an eagle will not hurt a domestic animal can think again, it was on the news here and they even showed an "eagle cam" featuring a dead cat in an eagle's nest. Since seeing that news segment, I've been watching the sky and sure enough there is an eagle that regularly circles my neighborhood. It just makes me ill to think of my poor Hank being scooped up and flown off with. I mentioned it to my boyfriend and he said he'd kill any eagle carting Hank off so I looked it up on the web and sure enough, harming an eagle is illegal. But what about our beautiful and much loved pets? Whose going to be responsible if one of these protected birds gets a taste for cat chow? I read up on the eating habits of eagles and apparently they are very good and taking advantage of whatever food source is readily available to them and domestic cats are plentiful around here as well as sitting ducks because they aren't expecting to be prey. All I can say to the owners of any pet smaller than say a standard poodle, be aware of what types of wild animals are native to your area, both in the sky and on land. Don't let your loving pet fall victim to the appetite of a predatory animal.
