A Porter Ranch resident captured video of a stray cat chasing a coyote away from another cat in her backyard. The incident follows a similar viral video from Ontario of a mother cat fighting off a coyote. Both cats in Porter Ranch were unharmed.
stray cat in chased a coyote away from another cat early Sunday morning. The encounter was captured on a resident's camera and shared with local news outlets. The footage shows the black and white cat confronting the coyote and driving it from the yard.
The homeowner who recorded the video is Teri Garcia. She told KTLA that she feeds both stray cats regularly. She described the two animals as "best of buddies."
"The coyote started to chase the gray cat, so the black and white cat chased the coyote off the yard," Garcia said. "Both cats are okay."
The Porter Ranch incident is the second reported case of cats fighting off coyotes in Southern California in the past week. A separate viral video from Ontario in San Bernardino County showed a feral mother cat named Puffy Girl battling a coyote that allegedly went after one of her kittens. The homeowner, Eddie Paredes, said he regularly feeds Puffy Girl and that she recently had a litter. Paredes told KTLA that the mother cat scuffled with the coyote before chasing it away. Both the mother and her kittens appeared unharmed.
According to the Citywide Cat Program, there are an estimated 960,000 unowned community cats in the City of Los Angeles. Other estimates place the number between 1 and 3 million across the city.
Coyotes are common throughout Los Angeles County. They adapt to urban environments and often hunt at dawn and dusk. The Los Angeles Animal Services department advises residents to secure pets, remove food sources, and report aggressive coyote behavior.
The Porter Ranch encounter drew attention because of the unusual sight of a cat standing its ground against a predator roughly five times its size. Garcia's video was picked up by KTLA, KNX News, and national outlets including Brobible and NewsNation.
Porter Ranch is a semi-rural neighborhood in the northwest San Fernando Valley. It borders open space and the Hansen Dam Recreation Area. Coyote sightings are not uncommon in the area. Residents say they keep cats indoors when possible but also feed strays that frequent their yards.
Garcia told KNX News reporter Emily Valdez that the black and white cat has been protecting the gray cat on more than one occasion. She said both animals remain safe and continue to visit her home.
The Los Angeles Animal Services department recommends the following steps for residents who encounter coyotes:
The Porter Ranch video has been viewed thousands of times online. It joins a growing list of viral clips showing small animals standing up to coyotes in Southern California neighborhoods.
Sources: KTLA, KNX News, Brobible, NewsNation, Citywide Cat Program
This article was generated with AI assistance.