Biologists say coyotes losing fear of humans

By: PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 7, 2004 9:23 PM PDT ∞

While the debate over killing coyotes continues to swirl throughout North County, biologists say the evidence is clear that the predators are growing less afraid of humans every year.

Robert Timm, a biologist with the Hopland Research and Extension Center in Hopland, recently presented a paper to the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Spokane, Wash. The paper, titled "Coyote attacks: an increasing suburban problem," concludes that coyotes have, indeed, become much less afraid of humans.

"In the absence of harassment by residents, coyotes can lose their fear of people and come to associate humans with this safe, resource-rich environment," the report states.

This latest concern over coyotes started when a small senior community in southeast Oceanside declared last month that it would hire a private exterminator to capture and kill coyotes that residents said were attacking family pets. After conducting 19 interviews in the Ocean Hills community, investigators found that coyotes had killed small three dogs in recent months and that they did so in close proximity to their owners, making them a threat to public safety.

The controversy escalated when the state Department of Fish and Game got involved, declaring the coyotes a public safety hazard and calling in federal trappers, who killed four of the animals July 22.

The news seemed to polarize the populace. From call-in radio shows to TV broadcasts and letters to the editors of local newspapers, public opinion seems to have fallen into two camps: Some favor killing coyotes when they get too close to humans and their pets, and others see killing coyotes as simply unconscionable.

Those who favor trapping and killing coyotes generally argue that nothing else will put the fear of man back into coyotes that have grown accustomed to the presence of humans. Those who favor leaving the coyotes alone say humans haven't done enough to help keep the coyotes wild, providing easy food for hungry predators who have been in the area much longer than the latest crop of suburbanites.

Biologists seem to fall somewhere in the middle.

Timm and co-authors from Cal Poly Pomona and the U.S. Department of Agriculture wanted to quantify the coyote-human conflict taking place in Southern California's suburban neighborhoods. So they scoured records in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, looking for instances where coyotes had either attacked a human directly or had attacked a pet while it was in close proximity to its owner.

They found that since 1978 there have been at least 89 such attacks, including seven in North County. None of those seven include the recent attacks reported in Oceanside's Ocean Hills community.

For example, in 1988 the report lists three coyote attacks in Oceanside, including an incident in which a 3-year-old girl was bitten on the leg and face by a coyote. In July 2002, a Carlsbad woman walking a Labrador-retriever was accosted by a pack of eight to 10 coyotes that bit at her legs and pants until her dog was able to fight the predators off.

There are still more stories of more serious attacks. In 1981, a 3-year-old girl from Glendale was attacked and killed by a coyote.

Over the years, coyote attacks, while still rare in Southern California, have increased in frequency, with a record 16 recorded in 2002.

"The overall picture is that this is a problem that is continuing to increase," Timm said.

Timm said that when he and his fellow researchers investigated coyote attacks, they usually found evidence that residents near where the attacks occurred had been feeding the coyotes, making them less afraid of humans.

Randy Bota, an assistant wildlife biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said he has not seen any credible literature or evidence that coyotes will regain their fear of humans once they have become accustomed to eating food people provide either through unsecured trash cans or pet food left outdoors. He said some pet owners also allow their small domestic dogs and cats to roam the outdoors, where they're easy prey.

Bota and Timm said killing aggressive coyotes is the only reasonable way to keep them out of back yards.

Bota said that coyotes that live close to housing developments often adopt different social structures than those observed in the wild backcountry. He said that large numbers may follow a dominant "leader" who has proven effective in snagging easy food from housing developments.

"Typically, if you can remove these lead animals, usually the others become less brazen," he said.

'Backyard' dilemma

Fish and Game does not trap and relocate coyotes despite constant requests from homeowners who would rather not see the animals killed.

Steve Edinger, assistant chief at the San Diego office of the state Department of Fish and Game, said relocating coyotes would only push the problem into someone else's back yard. He noted relocation also usually means a slower death for wild animals because they are plunked down into a competing animal's territory and must fight for dominance in unfamiliar surroundings.

"That's why we just don't relocate (trapped coyotes)," Edinger said.

He added that the best way for humans to make trapping and killing less common is to follow the simple philosophy of keeping wild animals wild by minimizing their dependance on humans as a source of easy food. He noted that one thing is certain: Coyotes are not going anywhere.

"They are one of the most adaptable species on the planet," he said. "Historically, the range for the coyote was the Great Plains, and now you find them in 49 states," he said.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.

Tips to prevent coyote attacks

Never feed or attempt to "tame" a coyote.

Don't leave small children or pets outside unattended.

Remove sources of water, especially in dry climates.

Trim ground-level shrubbery to reduce hiding places.

Store trash in tightly closed containers that cannot tip over.

Do not leave pet food outside, and bring pets in at night.

Provide secure enclosures for rabbits, poultry, etc.

Pick up fallen fruit and cover compost piles.

Install motion-sensitive lighting around the house.

Note: This list of dos and don'ts is reproduced with permission from www.keepmewild.com, a Web site produced by the California Department of Fish and Game.

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