Comments on: Headlines: Gulf Fwy. Finger Furniture Folds Again; Porch Planter Pickups

By: Benny Cargill

Benny Cargill — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:21:57 +0000

memorial park has coyotes

By: robert

robert — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 16:14:38 +0000

This whole coyote business is a way to scare children from staying in the streets late at night. I was smoking hookah in front of my friends Bellaire semi mansion at night and a bellaire police department officer saw us smoking, shined the lights at us, and told us to go inside because there’s a coyote roaming the streets. Not to mention the fact that this was over a year ago.

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:08:17 +0000

I’ve never seen more than one coyote at a time while hunting. That’s healthy ones, not the mangy ones that have to harass cows to try and eat.

By: Superdave

Superdave — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:52:33 +0000

@Roy:

I am not confusing them with wolves. I agree that coyotes are present in the suburbs, which are typically bordered by natural areas (as in hundreds of acres of prairie, woods, flood detention lowlands, etc.). Look at the neighborhood in question on Google Earth – there is nothing green except a mowed bayou and a powerline easement, and coyotes would not dwell in either. This neighborhood is bounded by the Medical Center, Reliant Park, 610 Freeway, tightly-packed subdivisions, and retail centers.

Wolves have been extirpated from Texas. Until there is data supporting claims like “20 cats were killed by coyotes,” a responsible news organization should not disseminate hysterical fear.

And I am a biologist.

By: Roy

Roy — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:24:25 +0000

Superdave,

Most coyotes are often solitary hunters, though in many places mated couples and younger coyotes hunt in pairs. I agee that is not especially likely that coyotes are wandering the lower reaches of Braes Bayou, though it is not impossible and Channel 13 news is synomous with sensationalism. But there are plenty of suburban coyotes, I suspect you are confusing coyotes with their larger kin the various wolves.

By: Superdave

Superdave — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:34:09 +0000

Stupid people – it is extremely unlikely that a pack of coyotes lives inside the loop on the southwest side. The KTRK story makes the assumption that 20 cats were killed by coyotes, yet offer no evidence other than that a homeowner “believes” they did it. Their night time camera hasn’t even turned up a shred of evidence. Coyotes run in packs and have extensive territories in wild areas (not in urban settings), but are very afraid of humans and human activity. Also, it would be extremely difficult for a coyote to capture a cat due to a cat’s agility, especially in an urban environment where the cat can escape up any climbable surface. I’d like to see KTRK run a story like this by a biologist before airing and causing histeria.

By: Pone Tonie

Pone Tonie — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:26:43 +0000

It’s no fun when stuff gets stolen from your porch. Solution: don’t put things valued at hundreds of dollars on your porch unless they are chained down.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:45:37 +0000

It’s easy to get ‘Burger Guys’ confused with ‘Five Guys Burgers’, at least it is at my age. Hasn’t someone sued somebody over this? At any rate, ‘Five Guys’ is terrible, but I assume ‘Burger Guys’ is much better, or it wouldn’t be featured in Swamplot.

By: Northsider

Northsider — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:09:54 +0000

Northside Girl, invest in a fence and thorny vines to cover it. Hopping over for a nice ceramic pot with an exotic succulent isn’t something a thief wants to fuss with, especially if they get caught up in a blackberry bramble with nasty thorns.

By: northside girl

northside girl — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:59:57 +0000

My planter got stolen from my house in the middle of the night on 7/27. I’m in northside village, a few miles away from sunset heights. I’m not going to buy another.. it will only get stolen again.