Trapping and poisoning coyotes is a "feel-good" measure that City Officials do to appease uninformed citizens that they are "keeping the neighborhood safe.............in truth, this only creates a temporary vacancy that ususally invites even more coyotes to eventually take up residence

Our View: Coyotes and us in a wild world

Posted: 09/04/2010 07:15:57 AM PDT

It's safe to say that the yi-yi-yi yips of coyotes at dawn and dusk will forever evoke different reactions in different people.
For some in the Southland, the yelps from the indigenous canine are reassuring sounds reminding us that even in our increasingly urban surroundings we live in a wonderfully still-wild world.
For others, the howls right in our own backyards are frightening evidence of the need to eradicate the beast if we hope to ever let our children, cats and dogs out of doors on their own.
About the only fact that holders of these widely differing points of view can agree on is that, unlike so many other native American animals, Canis latrans is one species that has actually enlarged its range since humans came on the scene.
Once mostly confined to the West, coyotes are now found from Panama up through Central America and Mexico through the entire continental United States and into all but the most frozen northern reaches of Canada.
Famously, they not only thrive in our Arroyo Seco, Whittier Narrows and other open spaces - a few have made their way into Manhattan's manicured Central Park.
There is also no doubt that though coyote attacks on people were once exceedingly rare, they now are more common.
In our region, with the entirely wild San Gabriels to the north, with the wildlife corridors into our cities provided by the Arroyo Seco, Eaton Canyon, the San Gabriel River and many other natural features,

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with the Puente Hills, the Whittier Hills ... well, in many ways we very much still live in wildland ourselves. There never has been and never will be a single coyote-free neighborhood here.
But in Arcadia recently, after budget cutbacks caused a former trapping program to be put on hold, some residents think there are more coyotes than there ought to be, and that attacks on their pets are the proof.
About 50 coyotes annuually were caught and then killed when the program was in full force for three years.
Now, Arcadia officials have authorized spending up to $30,000 for another year's worth of culling coyotes from the city's midst.
Anyone with a pet who has been harmed or killed by the wild dogs knows the pain caused. Worries about the safety of children go endlessly far beyond that.
The world is a dangerous place, and we take what precautions we can without compromising our zest for life and our sense of wonder about wildlife. Plus the plain fact is, there is simply no doubt that this trapping is not going to eliminate coyotes from Arcadia. In part, it has to be seen as a feel-good measure - certainly not by the coyotes themselves, but for those residents who want something "done."
Education is key. There are better ways to live safely among coyotes. First is to ensure that they are never fed by misguided people who imagine that's a way to keep them away from our kids and cats. Second is to never let them get comfortable around human beings - always scoot them away when they approach yards or suburban parks. Keep cats and small dogs inside, especially at night and sundown and sunup. Never leave pet food outside your homes.
To imagine we can eradicate the beast is a pipe dream, just as it was in Joseph Conrad's imaginary Congo. We must learn to live in this world, as safely and harmoniously as we can.

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