Eight or nine weeks ago, Katie Brandt's cat set out one evening and never returned. This disappearance is one of several that have occurred in Brandt's neighborhood, which lies directly above Burien's Seahurst Park. The incidents are leaving area pet owners looking for answers.

Brandt believes that the cats have been eaten by predators living in the park's expansive wooded areas, which are inhabited by coyotes and foxes.

"They're just becoming emboldened," she said. She and her neighbors have inquired with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), learning that the agency typically does not trap and relocate small predators.

Now, Brandt noted, "People who have small pets should be aware that they need to keep them in."

The WDFW offers similar advice on its website, suggesting that pet owners keep their animals indoors, especially at night.

Once restricted to the prairies and mountainous regions of the west, coyotes have taken advantage of human activity and the decline of the grey wolf to occupy almost every habitat in the state.

In this new range, coyotes are "opportunists," eating both food left out for pets and sometimes the pets themselves.

Des Moines Animal Control Officer Jan Magnuson mentioned similar advice for owners who hope to protect their pets, saying that problems with predators are among the reasons Des Moines instituted a leash control law.

According to Magnuson, the only fool-proof way to keep cats safe is to keep them indoors at all times.

"When people let their cats roam at large, they can be eaten by coyotes," she said. Eliminating attractive food sources, especially pet food left outdoors, can also help.

Discouraged by the lack of resources for pet owners near forests, Brandt said that she simply hopes her neighborhood's pet population will remain intact.

"It's sad to lose an animal," she concluded wistfully.