Cape firefighters pull coyote pup from canal with help
Cape Coral firefighters thought they were performing an ordinary rescue unique to the community: Pulling a pooch from a neighborhood canal.
Turns out the recovery wasn’t exactly routine — the “dog” turned out to be a coyote pup.
In the early morning hours on June 22, Cape Coral Fire Department (CCFD) firefighters pulled a 12-week-old coyote from a canal in Britannia Lake.
Thanks to a phone call to CCFD and good Samaritans who helped lead the pup to shore, the coyote is now in the care of the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) on Sanibel.
“This save was a great team effort,” CCFD officials stated on a social media post.
CCFD Engine 9 and Rescue 9 responded to the call of what was first reported as a K-9 in the waters. The caller, only identified as Brian, made the 911 call and even jumped into the lake in an attempt to help the pup.
Also on scene was Denae Judd. She heard a commotion before 8 a.m. at her home that’s on the lake, hopped in her kayak and guided the coyote toward a dock.
“We heard someone yelling from across the lake, and then a few minutes later, we saw somebody running through the backyards so we went outside to see what was going on and saw an animal in the lake and people were talking about it being a dog,” she recalled.
Judd said by the time the fire department got there, the pup kept swimming across the lake.
“Every time somebody tried to get close to where (the coyote) could swim to land, it kept swimming away again,” she said. “We had kayaks stored at a property down the street, so we jumped in the car and got kayaks and came back because nobody had any flotation device or a way to get out to the lake. The animal clearly couldn’t find land.”
Judd paddled out and as she got closer to the animal, discovered it wasn’t a dog, that it was in fact a coyote.
Not wanting to get too close, she noticed the closer she got, the more scared the pup became and swam away. She decided if she could direct it to land, there would be a good chance of being able to get it out of the water.
“I just didn’t want it to drown,” Judd said. “It looked like it had been in the water for a long time at that point, so that was my initial worry. I was really concerned about seeing that happen. Before I got in the water, it kept going in circles, it was disoriented. I thought if I could get it going in the right direction and get it close to land, it would work out.”
Eventually, the pup made it under a dock and latched onto the bracing and hid under the decking.
It wasn’t easy getting the coyote out from under the dock, she said, as rescuers tried and tried to coax it out. The coyote was able to fit itself in a tight spot to where firefighters weren’t able to get eyes on it at first, but Judd assured them it was under the dock.
CCFD dropped a ladder in the water and eventually were able to free the pup and get it out of the water.
“The firefighters did a great job,” she said. “They all worked in tandem with each other. Pool guys were there and offered equipment from their truck. It really was an effort from everybody involved to make it happen.”
For Judd’s assistance with this unique situation, firefighters presented her with a Community Recognition Coin, as well as Brian.
“That was pretty cool, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said of the coin. “I just got into a kayak and guided things and watched it, but they’re the ones who did all the work to get it out. We were just thinking we have to do what we have to do to get it out.”
Judd said the incident is something that wouldn’t happen many other places.
“It’s just kind of Florida life I guess,” she said. “That’s the kind of stuff you don’t see up north. It’s not every day that you wake up, jump into a lake and help get a coyote out.”
In an email on June 25, CROW Communications Manager Meredith Darnell said the coyote pup was brought in emaciated and that, “He is undergoing assessments while under critical care.”