KPHO news site report that coyotes stalk and attack shoppers to get access to grocery bags.
do you notice this problem in your area?

http://www.kpho.com/news/14021056/detail.html

where I live, if an animal indulges in this type of behavior, it is quickly dealt with using the ".10 cent solution".

Live in a suburb just north of Phoenix, and I've noticed an increase in coyote traffic the past six months. Have a wide wash behind our house, and over the three years here, wasn't uncommon to see a pair of coyotes loping by right after sunset. Now four or five in the group and see them more frequently. But no reports in the area of "marauding" coyotes.

Despite the six-ft wrought iron fence across the back yard, my wife is paranoid about our Sh*tzu becoming coyote food.

She's not paranoid. I grew up in a little town about 75 miles south Phoenix. Had a paper route that meandered down a couple of desert roads. One customer had about 12 Chihuahuas, then a couple of months later she had 11. Then about a year later she had 10. When I would deliver in the pre-dawn hours I frequently saw Coyotes around her house. She had a chain link fence, but they dug under it. They are patient and smart. I've even seen one look both ways before crossing the highway.

Looks like the problem here is with people feeding them. We never had a problem with them attacking people, or even larger animals. Just the occasional chicken or unlucky Chihuajua.

no, we have mountain lions - but not quite as up-close and personal.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/aug/27/park-closed-after-mountain-lion-sighted/

2nd time this year the park is closed.

We had a flyer put in our door last year by the HOA, telling us that two (supposedly two young adults) were sighted in our immediate area the day before. According to our neighbor, he called in a sighting ... in his backyard. That really got my wife goin'.

that's too up-close and personal!

isn't nature wonderful - as long as we keep an eye on our pets!

Chihuahua : I thought that word's meaning indeed WAS coyote food, in mexican language

Not so much in downtown Chi-town.

Hey, it's not just the coyotes you have to worry about. On Tuesday I was in Rocky Mountain National Park on a day hike, eating lunch and relaxing on the shore of Odessa Lake. There didn't appear to be any animals around, although we saw some fresh elk tracks/scat. Then, a single female mallard duck swam across the lake in a beeline towards us, walked up to my hiking companion, bit him on the toe, then jumped back into the water and swam away. We may have been 'armed for bear,' but apparently not 'armed for duck.'