Fish and Game received a report that a coyote attacked and bit a dog on a Boise Foothills trail on the evening of Oct. 18, and is suggesting dog owners keep their pets close and under a watchful eye while using the trail system.
The incident occurred while a trail user was hiking on the Chickadee Ridge Trail with their large dog, and a lone coyote came out of the brush and attacked the dog, biting it once before the owner was able to scare it away.
While coyote attacks on domestic dogs in the Boise area are not common, coyotes have attacked and killed domestic dogs before — even within the city limits. There were multiple incidents involving dog-aggressive coyotes in the spring and early summer of 2021 in the nearby Hulls Gulch area.
It is not uncommon for coyotes to be territorial with domestic dogs, particularly around den sites when raising pups in the spring and early summer, or during the breeding season in February and early March.
However, this sort of behavior in the fall is atypical, and Fish and Game is encouraging trail users to report any encounters with coyotes in the foothills by contacting the Southwest Regional Office at 208-465-8465, emailing ryan.walrath@idfg.idaho.gov, or the City of Boise at ridgetorivers@cityofboise.org.