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Coyotes love suburbs, but feeling isn't mutual
Locally and across the country, the animals are creating comfortable lives in the suburbs, and that's causing safety worries among the human residents.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/899504.html
By Darlene Prois, Star Tribune
The all-night howling was annoying, but Craig Kronbeck could have accepted it as the price of the good life on the edge of a wildlife preserve. When two snarling coyotes threatened his beagle puppy only feet from him in his yard, however, the Red Wing man's concern immediately shifted to his young children.
"A 4-year-old isn't very big," Kronbeck said. "The coyotes are so brave now, you flip the light on and still have to go out and chase them away."
And coyotes are moving into the suburbs, too, here and across the country, and in the process are losing their fear of humans. As more and more coyotes see the metro area as a refuge full of food, there are growing concerns about this increasingly bold predator.
In Red Wing, city officials responded quickly to Kronbeck's concerns.
Earlier this month, the City Council voted to trap and kill the neighborhood's coyote population, estimated at 10 to 20 animals.
Closer to the Twin Cities, the suburb of Eagan reports as many as 90 coyote sightings a year, while nationally, the population of urban coyotes is exploding.
Chicago, one of the few cities to study the animal, estimates that as many as 2,000 live in its metro area.
Though some coyote attacks have been reported elsewhere, there are no reports of attacks in Minnesota. Still, coyotes' growing presence in the suburbs should raise concerns, said Ed Boggess, deputy director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
"In rural areas, coyotes get shot at," he said. "Urban areas become de facto wildlife refuges because there's no hunting. The animals become less fearful of humans."
Exponential increase
No one is sure how many coyotes live within the metro area, but there's plenty of anecdotal evidence.
"The population has increased exponentially over the past 25 years," said Mike Tucker of Wildlife Control Services of Bloomington. This year he has received about 100 requests for coyote control.
"I think I've gotten a call from just about every suburb," Tucker said. "We have coyotes in the inner core as well. I get calls where coyotes have been stalking pets or acting aggressively. They don't flee when the residents yell or throw things at them. They don't see humans as a threat."
Gary Meis of Bruno, Minn., president of the Minnesota Trappers Association, has trapped coyotes for nearly 50 of his 59 years. He thinks city folks have good reason to feel nervous.
"Can I believe an attack can happen? You bet I can," he said. "By nature, coyotes are shy and secretive, but when these animals lose their fear of humans, all bets are off. It's like the kid who took a cookie and got away with it; the next time they get bolder. [Coyotes] see a kitty cat and run in and snatch it and get a free meal, and they think, hey, that's not so tough, is it? They smell it, they see it and they come back for more."
In most cases, the animals eat rats and other rodents, creating few problems for humans. Intentional feeding, however, is a different story.
Maintaining the animals' fear of humans is an essential component of Co-Existing with Coyotes, a public education program whose concepts are used by many Minnesota cities. The program was begun in 2001 by a wildlife biologist in Vancouver, British Columbia, after coyotes there attacked at least six children. Since the campaign started, there have been no additional attacks on humans there, despite an ever-increasing coyote population.
"Coyotes are neat to see, but you don't want to encourage them or treat them like some family dog that's visiting," said the DNR's Boggess.
Anxiety over coyote behavior is nothing new, but solutions remain elusive. Like Canada geese and whitetail deer, coyotes have adapted to suburban life, with its plentiful food supply -- often human-supplied -- and lack of predators.
"People have been trying for generations to kill coyotes, but they've always failed," said Bryan Lueth, urban wildlife specialist for the DNR. "Coyotes are adaptable and intelligent, and you can never get them all." He admits that removing individual animals sometimes is required but says the DNR promotes coexistence and education over eradication.
Responsibility unclear
The task of dealing with aggressive urban coyotes doesn't fall to the DNR, however, but to local law enforcement agencies. They in turn are often forced to hire experts.
"Our animal control expertise and equipment is for domesticated animals, not wild ones," said Blaine Police Chief Dave Johnson, whose city recently paid a trapper $1,500 to remove five coyotes from a park near Laddie Lake. "You have to be able to move the animals in a way that's safe for the people and domestic animals in the area."
Experts say that coyotes are difficult to catch.
"They're like the Super Bowl of trapping," Meis said. "I have the greatest respect for coyotes. They're suspicious, they're intelligent; their smell is uncanny. ... The last two things that will walk the earth are a coyote and a turkey."
Despite the difficulty, the number of coyotes killed through trapping or hunting in Minnesota doubled last year, from 18,000 to 39,000, according to the DNR.
Concern about the cost and inefficiency of dealing with the Blaine coyotes recently prompted state Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, to draft legislation intended to deal with the growing problem. His proposed solution, which he'll present in the coming session, is to shift responsibility from local public safety departments to the DNR.
"They have the resources and know-how," he said. "We have to figure out who's in charge so we have a safe distance between the predatory animals in urban areas and the people who are living there."
Darlene Prois • 612-673-4280 • [email protected]
Locally and across the country, the animals are creating comfortable lives in the suburbs, and that's causing safety worries among the human residents.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/899504.html
By Darlene Prois, Star Tribune
The all-night howling was annoying, but Craig Kronbeck could have accepted it as the price of the good life on the edge of a wildlife preserve. When two snarling coyotes threatened his beagle puppy only feet from him in his yard, however, the Red Wing man's concern immediately shifted to his young children.
"A 4-year-old isn't very big," Kronbeck said. "The coyotes are so brave now, you flip the light on and still have to go out and chase them away."
And coyotes are moving into the suburbs, too, here and across the country, and in the process are losing their fear of humans. As more and more coyotes see the metro area as a refuge full of food, there are growing concerns about this increasingly bold predator.
In Red Wing, city officials responded quickly to Kronbeck's concerns.
Earlier this month, the City Council voted to trap and kill the neighborhood's coyote population, estimated at 10 to 20 animals.
Closer to the Twin Cities, the suburb of Eagan reports as many as 90 coyote sightings a year, while nationally, the population of urban coyotes is exploding.
Chicago, one of the few cities to study the animal, estimates that as many as 2,000 live in its metro area.
Though some coyote attacks have been reported elsewhere, there are no reports of attacks in Minnesota. Still, coyotes' growing presence in the suburbs should raise concerns, said Ed Boggess, deputy director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
"In rural areas, coyotes get shot at," he said. "Urban areas become de facto wildlife refuges because there's no hunting. The animals become less fearful of humans."
Exponential increase
No one is sure how many coyotes live within the metro area, but there's plenty of anecdotal evidence.
"The population has increased exponentially over the past 25 years," said Mike Tucker of Wildlife Control Services of Bloomington. This year he has received about 100 requests for coyote control.
"I think I've gotten a call from just about every suburb," Tucker said. "We have coyotes in the inner core as well. I get calls where coyotes have been stalking pets or acting aggressively. They don't flee when the residents yell or throw things at them. They don't see humans as a threat."
Gary Meis of Bruno, Minn., president of the Minnesota Trappers Association, has trapped coyotes for nearly 50 of his 59 years. He thinks city folks have good reason to feel nervous.
"Can I believe an attack can happen? You bet I can," he said. "By nature, coyotes are shy and secretive, but when these animals lose their fear of humans, all bets are off. It's like the kid who took a cookie and got away with it; the next time they get bolder. [Coyotes] see a kitty cat and run in and snatch it and get a free meal, and they think, hey, that's not so tough, is it? They smell it, they see it and they come back for more."
In most cases, the animals eat rats and other rodents, creating few problems for humans. Intentional feeding, however, is a different story.
Maintaining the animals' fear of humans is an essential component of Co-Existing with Coyotes, a public education program whose concepts are used by many Minnesota cities. The program was begun in 2001 by a wildlife biologist in Vancouver, British Columbia, after coyotes there attacked at least six children. Since the campaign started, there have been no additional attacks on humans there, despite an ever-increasing coyote population.
"Coyotes are neat to see, but you don't want to encourage them or treat them like some family dog that's visiting," said the DNR's Boggess.
Anxiety over coyote behavior is nothing new, but solutions remain elusive. Like Canada geese and whitetail deer, coyotes have adapted to suburban life, with its plentiful food supply -- often human-supplied -- and lack of predators.
"People have been trying for generations to kill coyotes, but they've always failed," said Bryan Lueth, urban wildlife specialist for the DNR. "Coyotes are adaptable and intelligent, and you can never get them all." He admits that removing individual animals sometimes is required but says the DNR promotes coexistence and education over eradication.
Responsibility unclear
The task of dealing with aggressive urban coyotes doesn't fall to the DNR, however, but to local law enforcement agencies. They in turn are often forced to hire experts.
"Our animal control expertise and equipment is for domesticated animals, not wild ones," said Blaine Police Chief Dave Johnson, whose city recently paid a trapper $1,500 to remove five coyotes from a park near Laddie Lake. "You have to be able to move the animals in a way that's safe for the people and domestic animals in the area."
Experts say that coyotes are difficult to catch.
"They're like the Super Bowl of trapping," Meis said. "I have the greatest respect for coyotes. They're suspicious, they're intelligent; their smell is uncanny. ... The last two things that will walk the earth are a coyote and a turkey."
Despite the difficulty, the number of coyotes killed through trapping or hunting in Minnesota doubled last year, from 18,000 to 39,000, according to the DNR.
Concern about the cost and inefficiency of dealing with the Blaine coyotes recently prompted state Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, to draft legislation intended to deal with the growing problem. His proposed solution, which he'll present in the coming session, is to shift responsibility from local public safety departments to the DNR.
"They have the resources and know-how," he said. "We have to figure out who's in charge so we have a safe distance between the predatory animals in urban areas and the people who are living there."
Darlene Prois • 612-673-4280 • [email protected]
