JEFFERSON COUNTY — Coyotes skulk everywhere in the Denver metro area, and wildlife experts said Wednesday that the most effective way to reduce encounters with the predators is prevention.
Apparent increases in coyote sightings, pet snatchings and attacks on people drew several hundred local officials to a state wildlife symposium at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
“City coyotes are not new,” said Jerrie McKee, a district wildlife manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “Coyotes have learned that our cities are rich in resources and a safe place to raise pups.”
Conflicts with coyotes are new to some cities, while others have dealt with them for decades, said Steve Yamashita, the DOW’s northeastern Colorado regional manager.
“We have significant issues now and we have to deal with them collaboratively,” Yamashita said. He added that each community needs to decide what works best.
Later Wednesday, about 75 people attended a meeting at Anthem Highlands Parkside Community Center. The meeting, sponsored by Broomfield and the DOW, came after a high-profile brush with two coyotes in January near the Anthem development in north Broomfield in which a woman was nipped by a coyote while walking her dog.
Broomfield resident Peggy Copeland said she has been terrorized by a coyote that snatched her cat right before her eyes in October. Now the same animal invades her backyard to harass her puppy and is not intimidated by Cope land’s efforts to scare it away.
“I call him a problem coyote, and I want to know what’s to be done about it,” Copeland said. DOW representatives said they’d meet with Copeland to come up with a solution.
John Frank of Centennial told the audience that coyotes roaming the Front Range suburbs are different from ones in the wild. “These are not afraid of people,” Frank said. “Instead of eating rabbits and field mice, they are eating our dogs and cats.”
At the earlier symposium in Jefferson County, Yamashita said the DOW is looking at a centralized tracking system for reports of coyote conflicts.
The system could help pinpoint “hot spots” so problem coyotes could be targeted. Currently, the DOW does not intervene unless a coyote attacks a person.
The DOW has investigated eight attacks on people in the past five years, but there probably are more because agencies don’t always share information.
In addition to the Broomfield incident last month, a 14-year-old Greenwood Village boy fended off a coyote.
Last week, Greenwood Village approved limited shooting of coyotes in parks and greenbelts and on trails.
“We don’t want to kill all of them or thin them,” said Police Chief Donnie Perry. “But we may have to shoot or kill some of the coyotes.”
Greenwood Village has been trapping coyotes since 1998, Perry said, but the problem has grown. So far this year, Greenwood Village has received 71 reports about coyotes, compared with 186 in all of 2008 and 111 in 2004.
Jefferson County has collected about 20 coyote reports in the past few months that are more significant than sightings.
“Now we’re getting about one per day,” said Jefferson County animal-control manager Carla Zinanti.
DOW experts urged communities to develop their own coyote management plans, with public education as a top priority. Efforts should emphasize prevention of conflicts between humans, their pets and coyotes, said Eliza Hunholz, a DOW area wildlife manager.
Hazing — yelling, throwing rocks and any other actions that make coyotes regain a fear of humans — and other measures should be a part of educating individuals to reduce what Hunholz called “this tsunami of coyote conflicts.”
“The new reality in the Denver area is people can’t leave their pets unattended,” Hunholz said. “It is a difficult sell, it’s inconvenient and a big change, but that’s the new reality.”
Coyote coexistence
• Don’t allow dogs and cats to roam, and don’t leave them unattended in the yard.
• Have at least a 6-foot-tall fence, or keep dogs in an enclosed kennel.
• Keep garbage in containers with lids, and don’t set out garbage until the morning of pickup.
• Keep dogs on a leash no longer than 6 feet when walking them.
• Make coyotes uncomfortable if they approach. Yell, throw rocks, use an air horn, squirt them with a hose or try any other action or noise that makes them fearful of humans.
• Never feed coyotes.
• Remove attractants from yard, such as pet food, water, bird feeders and fallen fruit.
• Reduce hiding places by trimming shrubs and trees, removing woodpiles and blocking off areas under decks.
• Discuss with your homeowner association changes in landscaping, fencing or other rules that would act as a deterrent.
Source: Colorado Division of Wildlife
