OKC Neighborhood Terrorized By Coyote

Neighbors living near the areas of North Rockwell and Britton say they have an un-welcome visitor and they’re scared.

Surveillance video shows what appears to be a coyote roaming the neighborhood. 

Over the past few weeks, neighbors have reported cats and small dogs missing and have found the shredded remains of some of them.

"I seen a cats head sticking up and there was no body but there was two legs and a tail,” said 15-year-old Ruven Royce, who found the remains of a cat in a yard.

Traska French-Artis was looking for her missing dog, Gia, when she spotted something disturbing. "So when I looked down, I saw a complete intact jaw of a white animal that looked just like Gia's jaw. And I was like, ‘Oh my God. Is my dog dead?’"

She took the jaw to a vet and learned it was from a cat. She also found out other neighbors had reported similar experiences.

"Somebody reported on their front lawn in our neighborhood they had cat parts everywhere. And so that was on the Nextdoor app. And I mentioned that I found a jaw. And several cat owners were talking about cats that were all the sudden missing,” said French-Artis.

Micha Holmes with The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation says it’s not unusual for coyotes to be in suburban areas, even though we seldom see them.

“They're just as much at home in the country as they are in a suburban setting so it's not uncommon to see coyotes even on the outskirts of Oklahoma City,” said Holmes.

Coyotes are predators, and have been known to go after small pets, so neighbors living in the area should keep pets and pet food indoors for now. Coyotes seldom attack people.

“Coyote attacks would be extremely rare. I'm not aware of any attacks that have ever taken place in Oklahoma,” Holmes said.

But because there are so many of them in the city, the Department of Wildlife Conservation says it’s not practical to try to trap this one.

That has French-Artis even more worried for her dog.

"The thought that this animal is going around just terrorizing and getting everybody's animals has me worried that maybe that's what happened to her,” said French-Artis.