Monday, Sept. 29, 2003 | 11:11 a.m.
A coyote attack that killed a family's dog along the shore of Lake Mead on Sept. 21 serves as a brutal reminder that the wild animals are never far from residents of Southern Nevada.
Matt and Julie LaCroix were on a family outing at the lake when their dachshund, Tuffy, ran up a hill and out of their sight near Echo Bay.
The six-pound dog was no match for two 30-pound omnivorous canines that were on the other side of the hill. When Tuffy's owners, Matt and Julie LaCroix, went looking for their 5-year-old pet that morning, they were horrified to find two coyotes standing over a puddle of blood and small tufts of brown fur.
"I had never heard of coyotes attacking in daylight," said Matt LaCroix, 41, assistant director of demographic, zoning and realty for the Clark County School District and a longtime Overton resident who is used to seeing coyotes roaming his farming community, generally at night.
"I also was surprised by these coyotes' degree of aggressiveness."
Although coyote attacks on small animals in Clark County are common, they are seldom reported, officials said, noting that Lake Mead and other rural spots are the habitat of creatures such as coyotes and mountain lions, and that humans have to take precautions when visiting their world.
Also, because coyotes are found in all 48 contiguous states, they have become a growing concern to authorities as rural development stretches into areas that once were barren lands that coyotes and other beasts roamed unabated.
Julie LaCroix, 33, a native and lifelong resident of Overton who has grown up on land frequented by coyotes, says the loss of her pet was extra painful because it occurred on her daughter Chanel's 10th birthday. Tuffy was a gift to Chanel on her sixth birthday.
The family, which also includes the couple's 11-year-old son Cole, 5-year-old daughter Casia and 3-year-old son Chase, had spent the weekend on their houseboat across from Echo Bay.
"We returned to the houseboat and the kids ran up asking if we had found Tuffy," Julie recalled. "I just told them that I think a coyote got her. Then came the crying."
The couple say it was their fault. They had let their dog off the boat to run free on the beach and up to a ridge where the attack occurred. They were aware of leash laws at the lake.
"When we got back to Echo Bay and told people what had happened, a number of them said they always walk their dogs on leashes because of the coyote problem," Matt LaCroix said. "If we had known that in advance, we would have been more careful."
Lake Mead National Recreation Area Park rangers say they have no records of coyotes attacking people and few official reports of them killing small animals.
Supervisory Park Ranger Tom Valenta said: "We have far more problems with unleashed dogs attacking than we have of coyotes and other predators in the area such as mountain lions, bobcats and badgers. In the 20 years I've been here, we've never had a report of a person attacked by a coyote.
"Coyotes come into my back yard at night. When I walk out they run off because they don't like people. But they hunt any time of day."
When the LaCroix couple came upon the site where Tuffy had been killed, the simple act of Matt hurling a rock at the coyotes sent them scurrying.
"We don't consider coyotes and the other animals here at the lake to be pests because this is their home," said Valenta, who lost a pet cat to a coyote. "It is us humans who are visiting their home."
Valenta said avoiding run-ins with coyotes at Lake Mead involves simple "wilderness etiquette," -- keep your pets on leashes, don't feed wild animals and don't leave garbage out at your camp site.
The coyote -- or Canis latrans -- typically weighs between 15 to 40 pounds. Their only natural enemies are wolves and mountain lions. Unnatural enemies include people with guns, poisons and automobiles, Valenta said.
A desert coyote can be distinguished from a dog by its black-tipped tail. Some coyotes at higher elevations have white-tipped-tails. They are intelligent animals whose diet generally consists of lizards, insects, rodents and rabbits. But they also will eat fruit and vegetables, experts say.
Roxanne Dey, spokeswoman for the Lake Mead Park Rangers and a Southern Nevada resident for more than 30 years, said that coyotes are not confined to the wilderness, but can be found practically everywhere in Southern Nevada.
"Where I live (in Boulder City), it is common to see coyotes in some neighborhoods," she said.
Boulder City Animal Control officials say they have had a coyote problem for about 30 years, noting there have been reported attacks on cats, small dogs and livestock. Statistics were not available.
State law prohibits coyotes caught in urban areas from being relocated to the wilderness because they are susceptible to rabies. They must instead be destroyed.
Matt LaCroix suggested that one way to reduce the risk of coyote overpopulation would be to hold an annual hunting season to thin their numbers. But Valenta said that's not necessary because with a small game license, you can hunt coyotes in Southern Nevada and in parts of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Valenta said a map of legal hunting zones is available at the rangers' office.
While Matt and Julie LaCroix say they have no plans of getting another pet to replace Tuffy -- they have a 13-year-old dog named Sammy who did not make the trip to the lake and three feral kittens who were born on their property -- they will be careful on future lake ventures.
"I'm definitely not going to let my kids out of my sight," Julie LaCroix said.
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