Posted on 01/13/2020 6:43:08 PM PST by nickcarraway
Surrounded by three coyotes in the backyard of his family's Highland Park home Monday night, a brave cat named Max held his own and tried to fight them off all by himself -- and the tense standoff was captured on video.
Maya Gurrin and her husband were watching a movie in their home on Crestwood Way when they noticed a shadow of a tail through the window.
The went outside to check it out and were stunned to find a group of coyotes in their yard.
“I just kind of scream and lunge at them, and then they run away, and Max comes, like, strolling in as if nothing happened,” Gurrin told KTLA on Friday.
Little did the Gurrins know that until they scared away the coyotes, the animals had surrounded their beloved pet, possibly eyeing him as dinner.
Then, they checked a surveillance camera.
“It wasn’t until we saw the security footage, we were like, ‘Oh my God, he was out there for a good 30 seconds at least just fighting these guys off,’” Gurrin recalled.
The coyotes tower over and outnumbered Max, but he wouldn't back down.
The cat repeatedly lunged at the coyotes as each approached separately, forcing them to back up momentarily, the video showed. But they kept coming right back at him until his owners eventually frightened them off.
“I knew he was like, an outdoor cat and could fend for himself, but nothing like that,” Gurrin said.
Though she can laugh about it now, Gurrin acknowledges the incident could have had a much different -- and tragic -- outcome.
So even though Max prefers being outside, the couple is trying to figure out a way to balance his need for freedom with their concern for his safety.
“He is miserable inside, it really breaks our heart,” Gurrin said.
The solution, for now, is a harness that can be used to walk the cat -- though his owner admits she’s uncertain if he’ll be OK with that.
The Gurrins have lived in the area for a couple of years and have seen coyotes walking in the street before. But they’ve never seen them come close to the cat before.
In the aftermath of the incident, Gurrin warned fellow pet owners in her neighborhood to be careful.
“Yes, [the coyotes] saw dinner," she said. "But they were not scared and it even took them a second to kind of move when we went outside."
We used to have a 30+ pound snowshoe cat that wasn’t afraid of anything. He wasn’t fat, and he could jump up and touch about five feet. He would not have only fended these coyotes off, he would have sent them away licking their wounds.
Mine lays on the roof. I pity the owl that messes with her. About a month ago, I noticed some fur coming off of what turned out to be puncture wounds. I’d heard coyotes out in the street, recently. Looks like she was grabbed, but got away.
This is Calif, go to jail for shooting a coyote in your yard.
Makes ‘em crazy.
Audacity, audacity, always audacity!
Death by Great Horned Owl is very very bad. These owls are very large but very light, they would have a problem carrying off a 12 to 15 pound tomcat. So what they do is tear the cat’s body to shreds (while the cat is still alive) and then carry the pieces one by one back to the nest. It is a HORRIBLE way for a cat to die. Several pet cats in my neighborhood have met gruesome deaths from a couple of resident Great Horned Owls.
If you love your cats, keep them indoors at all times. They’ll be p*ssed off at first when you stop letting them go outside, but they will get over it. It’s not as if your home is a teeny tiny cage.
Hey, she’s cute.
We’d find the fur ball, with bones in it...
We have ‘yotes around here. One even took down a doe in the neighbor’s yard a few years back, and left the head behind as a calling card. We always keep a pair of .22 pistols loaded and within a second’s reach.
Sounds like they were coydogs - - half coyote, half domestic dog. They aren’t timid like full coyotes are and these weren’t timed. and to make matters worse, they get out during the day. That makes them more dangerous to pets and people. We have them here - both coyotes and coydogs - and have lost a few of our beloved cats. Now all the cats stay inside all the time.
When you see missing small pet posters on telephone poles, guess what.
Cats are great - most people suck.
That’s why we invented crossbows and rubber gloves.
My boy comes and goes as he pleases. Most of the time he’s on the bed napping. But he enjoys his afternoons outside. He’s also very aware that he is prey. When he comes in he runs to the far side of the house like something is on his tail. I don’t think he goes out after 10 or 11.
“...the one making the vid should have been killing those coyotes...”
-
Where can I get me one of those security cameras that shoots coyotes?
I want one.
Tell the cops the coyotes identified themselves as dogs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.