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Woman Takes Photos Of Cat Being Chased By Coyotes In Midtown Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A woman was in the right place and the right time to capture dramatic footage of a cat narrowly escaping the jaws of two coyotes in midtown Sacramento.

Alyson Seconds says she was driving on C Street around 25th Street on Thursday when she thought she saw two dogs dart out into the road between some cars. She pulled over, and when she noticed they were coyotes, pulled out her phone to take pictures, she wrote on Facebook.

What happened next, resembles what you would see in a nature show. In the photos, you see a light-colored cat -- clearly agitated -- coming out from the side of some wooden stairs at the front of a home, with a coyote only feet behind. It scampers across the lawn, sidewalk, then up a nearby tree as another coyote waits nearby.

cat 1 - alyson seconds
(credit: Alyson Seconds)
cat 2 - alyson seconds
(credit: Alyson Seconds)
cat 3 - alyson seconds
(credit: Alyson Seconds)
cat 4 - alyson seconds
(credit: Alyson Seconds)

"I grabbed my phone and took just these 4 shots of them running and jumping up at a tree," she wrote. "I didn't realize at first that it was a house cat they were after until I looked at the pictures!"

Below is the full text of Seconds' post:

I still kinda can't believe I got these shots Thursday morning of a Midtown cat narrowly escaping its demise at the jaws...

Posted by Allyson Seconds on Friday, February 7, 2020

Glen Galante is a wildlife photographer who focuses on coyotes. Galante works with non-profit Project Coyote and gives presentations around the Sacramento region about coexistence with urban wildlife, especially coyotes.

He says while they've always been around, there does seem to be more urban sightings and interaction with them. Galante says it's not so much that the coyote population is growing, he blames it on what's happening to their natural environment, forcing them into human environments and humans leaving food out that attracts them to neighborhoods.

"So I would say leash your dog, be aware of your surrounds and look around your neighborhood and see what's attracting them. And know that coyotes are a really important part of the ecosystem. They are actually really helping us control urban rodents."

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