Colorado's Coyote education program making co-existance a reality

Centennial's Coyote Management Gets Big Attention

Reporting
Dominic Garcia

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) ―

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  One woman's work to control the local coyote population does the trick and is now it's getting national attention.

Paula Lewis of Centennial has really been trying to get the word out to residents. She's been passing out flyers, sheets for children to color, and even whistles to scare coyotes. When it comes to coyotes, education is the most important weapon.

"What we're trying to do is educate people about coyotes," Lewis said.

Lewis oversees Centennial's Coyote Management Program -- a whole staff of one -- her.

Two years ago the city had a horrible problem with coyotes.

"We had a lot of animals that were missing, people were noticing a lot more coyotes," Centennial Mayor Kathy Noon said.

So a group of concerned residents got together and came up with a plan that has two major elements. They respond to people's calls, but a big part is prevention through education.

Lewis treks local trails raising awareness. A lot of times it's in an area where she's received several calls about coyotes. The professor even throws in some hazing.

"Hazing just means spook them, or startle them," Lewis said.

"People see them and take care of it themselves, they feel empowered and they don't have to call the city," Noon said.

Incidents have done way down. Their plan has even attracted the attention of the Division of Wildlife.

"It's actually distributed it nationwide. I've gotten e-mails from citizens in other communities," Noon said. "One was in Wheaton, Illinois."

As long as there are humans and coyotes in the same place, coyote class will be in session.