Baby gates are designed to protect children from getting hurt, but in this case, they possibly saved a house cat from becoming an easy meal for a coyote in Mission Viejo, California.
Cindy Stalnaker told KTLA that she and her husband were watching television around 11 p.m. Monday night when they heard a loud bang outside. When they went to the front door, they noticed muddy paw prints on the front porch and walkway.
“We immediately closed the door and turned on our phones to look at the Ring videos,” Stalnaker said.
The video, which Stalnaker shared with KTLA, showed a coyote in their front yard cautiously watching one of their cats that was sitting behind a child safety gate and screen door at their open front door.
Then, the animal suddenly charges at the cat not once but twice, slamming its head into the screen and gate.
After lurking around the front door for a short time, the coyote eventually gives up and wanders away in search of easier prey, the video showed.
“We were shocked to see the aggressiveness of his charges into that baby gate,” said Stalnaker. “Thankfully, the coyote didn’t jump [it].”
Stalnaker and her husband are now planning to install a more effective security door to allow the “cool evening breeze” in while keeping coyotes out, she says.
Coyote sightings are common in many Southern California communities, but a handful of recent encounters with humans and pets have recently pushed the issue to the forefront.
Earlier this month, residents of Los Angeles’ Mar Vista neighborhood reached out to local and state authorities after a pack of coyotes was seen on video stalking a man walking his dog and, in another incident, attacked an older dog in its backyard.