Pet cat faces off with wild coyote in Los Angeles County neighborhood
By Lesley Marin
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LOS ANGELES COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A security camera captured the intense encounter between a family’s pet cat and a wild coyote in a Los Angeles County neighborhood.
Owner Debbie Beltran said she was shocked when she later saw her neighbor’s footage.
“Holy cow, that’s our house, and that’s our cat,” she said. “That’s Mama. Oh my god!”
Beltran said the face-off happened last Friday on the street in the Pico Rivera neighborhood. In the security camera video, Mama and the coyote square off for several seconds, with the pet cat rushing the wild animal, which is twice her size. It continues until Mama rushes up a neighbor’s tree
“She was pretty high up. She was just hidden in there,” Beltran said. “She’s very smart because she knew where to go to get away with it.”
The Pico Rivera family, who owns several cats, adopted Mama five years ago. She came to them pregnant, which is how she got her name. They said that while the video shocked them, they weren’t completely surprised that their feline was so fearless.
“She does what she wants,” Beltran said. “She’ll come out, and if there are any cats around, she’ll rumble.”
Beltran’s family believes Mama is about 10 years old. They said she doesn’t like to be held and is a bit sassy. The family believes she may have been trying to protect her other cats when she encountered the coyote.
“I know she was protecting whatever felines are here at night or during the day,” Beltran said.
The Beltrans said coyotes are not new to their neighborhood. A year ago, one of their cats was killed by one. This time, Mama escaped practically unharmed.
“Her neck was literally wet, so I panicked,” Beltran said. “One of her paws had slight blood, but there was really no blood. I don’t know if it came from the coyote.”
The family is glad Mama is back home safe. They said their fearless feline will most likely become an indoor cat now. Beltran said Mama has been sleeping and eating a lot more since the encounter.
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