Editor,
I attended the Living with Wildlife community meeting last week and am happy to report that Laguna Beach’s Animal Services Division announced their partnership with California Fish & Wildlife’s Wildlife Watch program.
This management plan, which emphasizes greater public education, organized volunteer hazing efforts, and as a last resort, selective trapping and extermination only for injured and aggressive animals, has proven successful in many communities throughout Southern California. It is based on scientific studies that show widespread trapping only leads to an increase in coyote populations.
It is encouraging that Animal Services Division withdrew its proposal for increased trapping of urban coyotes. That plan, targeting pregnant females in the spring and juveniles in the fall, was inhumane and ineffective. Snares are indiscriminate and can trap any non-target animals, including pets. These snares cause a slow and painful death by strangulation. Animals not dead when the trapper returns are then thrown in mobile CO2 chambers for extermination.
Many members of our community asked the city to implement a progressive, humane management plan based on a thorough understanding of the biology and ecology of urban wildlife. Now Laguna Beach needs volunteers in our community to join Animal Services and California Fish & Wildlife in moving this coyote management plan forward.
Irene Bowie, Laguna Beach
The author is involved with Project Coyote, a coalition that promotes co-existence with wildlife.
I find this article a bit suspect. Project Coyote claims hazing works but cannot provide one peer reviewed study that shows hazing as an effective way to deal with habituated coyotes.
Lt. Smirl from CA Fish & Wildlife cannot find a study that shows hazing works either. Call him and ask for yourself 714 448-4215
Project Coyote cherry pics and/or misrepresents data to fit their agenda. Hardly scientific.
Has Project Coyote changed its position on lethal control? Not likely. From their gala website: “Proceeds from this event will benefit Project Coyote’s work to stop the wanton killing of wildlife across North America.”
Coyotes do not self regulate their populations like Project Coyote claims. Coyote population size is controlled by available food sources, suitable habitat and water.
If you want to say humans took coyote habitat think again. Not only do coyotes thrive in urban landscapes.. living longer than their wild counterparts. According to the last census data 89% of California is open space.
Preaching coexistence will only lead to larger coyote populations. Increased competition for resources from innaturally high populations will lead to more human coyote conflicts, not less.
Its not unreasonable to ask the city to protect its citizens interests since they are not allowed to solve the problem themselves.
For a list of studies about urban coyotes, check out:
http://www.projectcoyotelies.com/extras.html
Can anyone explain this? Wall Street Journal says Laguna Beach recently trapped six coyotes.
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/cities-step-up-measures-to-deal-with-aggressive-coyotes-1457720281-lMyQjAxMTI2NzE1NjExNTYyWj
The whole hype about killing coyotes is a ploy for outside local governments to control the property within the Laguna Green Belt borders. By saying they can control the whole wildlife ecosystem if they control coyotes is pure deceit. Everyone is reactionary and not looking at the bigger picture in a proactive sense. Even the poll advertised in outside the article is only there to provoke reaction. So get over it look at the news for what it really is a manipulation of your emotions so you do not think of out comes just immediate results, it’s all for political an monetary gains. Everyone knows the right thing to do in a moral sense they’re just pretending not to it’s all about money and power has nothing to do with saving your pet or killing coyotes.
I’m personally embarrassed to read of this and ask that every one refrain from drinking the emotional koolaide.
Steven Childs, I find YOU a bit suspect. Just interested in killing, huh? Take the easy way out and ignore the suffering of other creatures? I believe we should get on board with sharing this world with non-human inhabitants.
As always, the issue is heavy on emotion and extremely light on facts. See the below peer-reviewed studies by top scientists at UC and Cal State universities to understand the reality outside of the well-meaning, but horribly ignorant bubble of suburban OC: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/vpc21/1/
Hazing only works when started early, and removing offending predators is the only proven solution. Time will prove the experts right.
Since few seem to know what Hazing “coyotes” is about let’s break it down so we’re on the same page. This is suppose to be a selective process, and depends on where and when you encounter a coyote .
Not all encounters call for hazing. For example you are hiking in the Greenbelt and you see a coyote, this is not the time to haze because you drive them into urban areas. You see a coyote on your street this maybe the time to haze the coyote if the end of your block is half a mile or more from the Greenbelt, if it is not this is not this time to haze.
This is why bluebird canyon is a trouble spot. The coyote is seeking refuge from hazing and it’s natural predators. It is in close proximity to the Greenbelt and rural appeal with lots of pet owners. The same holds true for Canyon Acres except open space across the Canyon Road has better appeal so it is used as a corridor. There hazing would work.
Yelling and making noise works better than throwing rocks, rocks inside a metal can with a lid shaken like a rattle is better, loud whistles while waving your arms above your head, but
it really matters where or when,
coyotes are not stupid animals and they won’t stay where they are not wanted, but you have to give them a choice.
Take into consideration the efforts of the Laguna Greenbelt to negotiate for a corridor for wildlife to migrate to and from the Clevland National Forest what kind of message are we sending if we just exterminate the wildlife that enters our Greenbelt?
A lot of studies have been done on coyote control. But the coyote is one of the most adaptable animals known, but they adapt to our behavior not the other way around. So to say the coyotes in Los Angeles are like the coyotes here is like saying the same motivations that Angelenos have for their communities is the same as Laguna you’re going to have a few disagreements because that’s why many of us live here and not there, and vise versa.
The people that live in Laguna for now are the temporary stewards of the wildlife here, or at least the ones that encounter the wildlife, we all need to be responsible with our decisions in regards to our interactions with them, and part of that is not providing easy access to food or water, keeping your pets secure and out of reach, and reminding your neighbors, friends and visitors to do the same.
One more thing, if you ever encounter a coyote that is running, make sure to look and see what it is running from.