Last month, Joseph and Gayle Cerullo found their Belted Galloway cow in the morning at their North Whidbey farm. The animal, one of an unusual type of Scottish cattle, had been like a pet to Gayle, who brought her to the Highland Games and the fair.

The cow had been ripped apart in the pasture as she was trying to give birth. They put her out of her misery.

The perpetrators, the Cerullos believe, were coyotes.

“It was devastating,” Gayle said. “People need to know that we have a real coyote problem on the island. They seem to be more aggressive than ever.”

Most folks who live in the Whidbey countryside have seen or at least heard Canis latrans. While the crafty creatures have become a normal part of the island’s landscape, coyotes seems to be getting into more and more trouble lately with residents, pet owners and both large-scale and hobby farmers.

Nobody knows for sure how many coyotes are on Whidbey Island or even how they got here.

Dale Cheney, a friend of the Cerullos’, went out to their farm after the cow was killed and shot a few of the coyotes that live in the area. He’s been hunting the small wolf-like animal on the island for years.

In fact, Cheney may have been the first person ever to shoot a coyote on Whidbey. He was “calling” fox back in 1975 and ended up getting a coyote. A story in a Skagit County newspaper claimed it was the first one on the island.

Coyotes kill livestock

Roger Sherman, a Coupeville farmer, said red fox first showed up in Central Whidbey in the 1950s. He had some problems with them killing turkeys. But then the coyotes came in during the mid-1970s and the red fox disappeared.

Coyotes are a far worse problem.

“While some people like seeing them around, we hate them,” Sherman said. “They’re absolute killing machines.”

There have been reports of coyotes killing many different types of livestock, from ducks to dogs. Coupeville veterinarian Ken Leaman said he’s dealt with dogs and cats that have been terribly injured, presumably by coyotes. He said it’s very common for cats just to disappear and coyotes are usually blamed.

Sheep and lambs seem to be coyotes’ favorite livestock prey. Eleanor River, a sheep farmer in the West Beach area, said she lost five sheep to coyotes over the winter. The coyotes dragged four of the ewes outside of the fence and ate them, while the wiley predators were interrupted and left the fifth one behind.

The fact that the sheep were eaten is a tell-tale sign that coyotes were involved. Dogs or even wolf hybrids tend to tear up livestock but don’t usually dine of them, experts say.

Not only did River lose five valuable sheep, but she said she’s had to change her whole operation around because of the coyote attacks. She used to allow her flock to stay overnight on a large grazing field, but now she brings them in closer to her house.

“It’s increased my feed bill and it’s not the healthiest living situation for the sheep,” she said, explaining that the sheep have to “stand in mud and manure at night” because the area is more crowded.

Even the Navy has had problems with coyotes. Matt Klope, the former base biologist, said coyotes cause safety concerns when they are on the runways. The coyotes like to hunt mice on the base. At least once, an airplane actually hit a coyote.

Coyotes also help ecosystem

On the other hand, coyotes have become an important part of the island ecosystem, whether they are native or not. This is especially important now that the fox are gone.

Jack Laufer, a national coyote expert and the curator of Wolfhaven, said coyotes kill an amazing number of rabbits, mice, rats and other pests and vermin. They also help to keep the island’s exploding population of deer in check by preying on the old, injured and very young.

Also, Laufer argued that coyotes get blamed for many of the livestock kills that dogs are probably doing. Indeed, Island County Animal Control Officer Carol Barnes said dogs killing livestock is a major and growing problem on the island. Usually, the problem dogs are house pets that are allowed to roam, not wild dogs.

“There’s a mythology that coyotes are a hundred pounds and have have jaws like a saber tooth tiger,” Laufer said. “They’re actually smaller than a cocker spaniel.”

Laufer said it’s very unusual for coyotes to kill a cow. He said he’s never heard of coyotes killing any full-grown cattle in 20 years of studying the animal. Cerullo’s cow, however, was vulnerable because it was giving birth.

“They’re just too small,” he said. “They would have to jump pretty high to grab a cow’s throat.

“When something is killed or a cat doesn’t come home, people always say it’s the damn coyotes,” he added.

Yet he admits that “there’s no question coyotes do kill livestock.”

While coyotes usually hunt alone or in pairs, Laufer said they will also “pack up” into extended family groups. And this is the worst time of year for coyotes killing livestock because of the young being born and stillborns attract them in. Also, some male coyotes are traveling around, looking for mates.

Coyotes are also known to kill cats and dogs because, Laufer said, the very territorial animals see the house pets as competing predators in their area. They also probably taste good to a coyote.

But again, Laufer said “coyotes kill one cat for every 49 cats that are run over or killed by a neighbor dog.”

Laufer said “someone who knows what he’s doing” can tell if an animal was killed by a coyote by looking at the carcasses.

Dogs may be bigger problem

Sgt. Bill Heinck with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, who’s the new guy in charge of the regional Mill Creek office, has spent much of his career dealing with problem predators in Eastern Washington. He agreed that dogs are as big a problem as wild animals.

In one case, he said a rancher reported that a bear was killing his livestock. Heinck investigated and found that a pack of dogs were the real perpetrators.

Heinck said he uses forensic evidence from the scene to identify livestock killers. He’ll skin a carcass and measure bite marks. Coyotes leave small bite marks, no bigger than an inch and a half wide.

Coyotes will efficiently kill an eat and animal, but he said dogs tend to “overkill” and often don’t dine on the carcass afterward. He said “it’s much more of a gruesome event” when dogs kill livestock.

“Dogs are not predators that are skilled at killing,” he said.

Coyotes kill by either grabbing the bottom of the throat and “ratcheting” to cut off air, he said, or more often they “hamstring” larger animals so they can’t run. He said a tell-tale sign is when the animal’s tail is “bobbed” from coyotes’ chomping jaws as they are trying to get at the hamstring.

While coyotes have always been a problem for ranchers, Heinck said the highly intelligent animals are moving more and more into populated areas, even cities. A population lives in Los Angeles.

They are one of the most adaptable animals in nature. In fact, their range was much smaller before the country was colonized and wooded areas were cleared.

“They’re here to stay,” Heinck said.

You can reach Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.