The coyote versus dog debate on NextDoor
10 tips to keep your city dog safe while out on walks after coyote sightings
Nothing reminds me why I keep my ears covered by headphones, eyes on a smartphone or book, and swiftly walk my dog quite like signing up for NextDoor.com. In a matter of minutes, I remember why I do not want to know everybody in my neighborhood.
Recommended Read: “Dog poop bags in neighborhood cans: Yay or nay? ~ Should dog owners and walkers return home to throw away dog poop bags?”
Even when you get past the thinly veiled racism and negative premonitions (I’ll get into the latter part later), there’s a bizarre amount of people on the site who will argue about anything. After being off NextDoor’s website for five years, I rejoined to post a classified ad and to peruse a couple of news announcements. But then the coyote situation happened, and I remembered why I scurried away before.
This was the post I left in my neighborhood announcement last week:
PET OWNERS AND METRA RIDERS: I'm not seeing a whole lot of posts on this, so maybe the coyote moved on or no one has posted yet. Two men both ran up to me and my dog warning me that a coyote ran by and they were worried my dog would be attacked. When the first guy said it, I was suspicious because I saw nothing. But my dog always freezes near trains, so I *think* I may have misunderstood her. She didn't bark or anything except for when another dog walked by.
He told me the coyote ran right by us, but I was looking in one of those bins for free books/free food. Then a SECOND guy ran up behind me and said the same thing after I'd walked half a block. Clearly, this coyote was hanging out at the […] Metra station yesterday. I don't see news announcements that it was caught so I'm hoping it ran on. Just letting other dog owners know. I never saw it, but two different men telling me this clearly saw it.
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I’ve seen quite a bit in the wild, especially camping with the Girl Scouts, but I never even considered the idea of seeing a coyote in a busy Chicago neighborhood like mine. I thought the message was fairly non-controversial and letting people know to be more observant than I clearly was on this walk. (This lady would be so smug about me admitting this.)
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But somehow that message trailed off into one lady thinking I got robbed by two men and a few others accusing me of potential coyote abuse. Why did I rejoin this site?