GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.—A contractor hired by Greenwood Village to monitor coyotes and shoot them if necessary says people are trying to scare the animals away, interfering with his efforts.
Jay Stewart, owner of Animal Damage Control Wildlife Management Services, reported shooting a coyote in the south-Denver suburb in February. He patrols areas where coyotes hang out to target ones deemed dangerous.
“I have had a lot of opposition and unauthorized hazing of coyotes going on. When people see that I’m in a certain area, they just blanket the area and nothing gets done,” Stewart told The Denver Post.
Volunteers organized by the environmental group WildEarth Guardians try to shoo the animals away to make them wary of people. Nicole Rosmarino, the group’s wildlife program director, has criticized Greenwood Village’s approach, which in the past included putting out traps.
“Scientists tell us the best way to address problems with coyotes is to enforce leash laws and wildlife feeding ordinances and reinstill a wariness of humans in them,” Rosmarino said.
Rosmarino said more coyotes will breed and produce bigger litters if the population declines. Wildlife experts say more coyotes will move into an area when others are killed.
State and Denver-area officials have stepped up efforts to educate the public about coyotes since a string of recent incidents, including reports of four people being nipped or bitten by coyotes. State wildlife officers have shot coyotes they believe were involved. Five were shot in Broomfield in early March after a man was bitten there.
A boy in Greenwood Village told police that a coyote lunged at him in December, but took off after he elbowed it.
Some of the clashes have involved dogs running free or coyotes that have been fed by other people in the area.
Coyote sightings have skyrocketed in Greenwood Village. Last year, police received 186 reports, including 15 clashes with pets. Already this year, there have been 142.
Greenwood Village officials say they hired Stewart to track and monitor coyote behavior, locate coyote dens so the city can post signs to keep people away. Ryan Gregory, assistant to the city manager, said Greenwood Village is also working with state wildlife experts to organize a hazing program to teach coyotes to stay away from people as well educating people about avoiding coyotes.
Records obtained by WildEarth Guardians and The Humane Society of the United States show Stewart has billed the city $9,100 since Feb. 14.
“The city’s desire is that all the components of the plan, hazing and marketing, work in concert,” Gregory said.
Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians said she doesn’t oppose killing coyotes that attack people for no reason, but thinks Greenwood Village is too quick to try to eliminate the animals. She said she doesn’t believe that approach is working.
“In Greenwood Village, they have been killing coyotes for over 14 years,” Rosmarino told The Associated Press. “And if you listen to what the mayor is saying and the city council is saying, the problem is more acute than ever. So I believe Greenwood Village is proof positive that killing doesn’t work.”
