Coyotes find compassionate neighbors
Glendale Fights To Save Coyote Family
- by Sharon S.
- September 17, 2011
- 2:10 pm
Neighbors in the upscale community of Glendale, CA and even the town’s mayor are fighting to save a coyote family that has taken up residence in a burned-out home. They have asked L.A. County to postpone trapping and killing the animals and use humane techniques that will encourage the pack to move out of town.
Two coyotes took over a home that was destroyed by a fire last fall. They lounge in the yard every day and even gave birth to a litter of five pups. Homeowners say they are docile, but refuse to be scared away.
Coyote sightings are not unusual in the hilly suburb of Los Angeles. Many residents move to the area to be closer to nature.
But typically wildlife officials would set out traps and euthanize the animals as protection to people living nearby, if the animals wandered too close.
That was the plan for the latest coyote pack until neighbors and Glendale Mayor Laura Friedman began listening to animal welfare groups about methods to humanely encourage the family to move away.
Friedman told L.A. Now that she understood lethal measures should be taken if the coyotes become aggressive, but for now her town is taking measures to discourage the pack from staying.
They are clearing brush around the home and up and down the street to stop the coyotes from establishing a den. Neighbors have been asked to bring pet food inside their homes, secure trash cans and remove fruit from their trees to eliminate food sources.
Rita Cohen who lives next door to the burned-out house has had the coyotes visit her backyard where they tore up her spa cover. “It’s a pain, but I don’t want them euthanized,” she said to MSNBC.
Next week the house is scheduled to be demolished. Most people think the coyote family will run away once the house is overrun by workers and noise.
Cohen joked, “They will go “ probably back to my yard.”
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/glendale-fights-to-save-coyote-family.html#ixzz1YPreY8V5
Oh Sandra, what a wonderful comment! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. In the Birmingham area, the sight of a coyote causes a knee-jerk reaction of lethal response. Our lives would be so enriched if we could only appreciate our wild neighbors.
Heartening to learn of these compassionate folks in CA. The Gulf Coast of Alabama, due to years of rampant construction, especially in once “wild” areas, has chased coyotes out of their natural habitats, causing them to search for food and water, wandering into “new suburban” neighborhoods. While there is land designated as “protected”, it is disturbing to see these beautiful creatures starving, struggling to survive in our careless and unjust society where wild animals are concerned. Up until this year, at least one coyote would be spotted, but all too often, they would end up dead on the busy highway leading to the fancy condos, restaurants and housing – hit by the cars of tourist and residents.
Very sad to see a thin white mama coyote crushed in the road, not knowing how her pups would survive and never to return to them. I saw one suffering from mange one day, and felt so helpless to help him/her. He was desperate enough to come out in full daylight. An aptmt manager said he always let one come into his office in the early a.m. hours, and would feed him, eventhough we are told not to do so. He would, at least, enjoy a full meal before he met his sure deadly fate in “our world”.
Now, there are no encounters with the coyote in our area. Those who were displaced by human encroachment have all been killed, or died – sans those who made it to the protected areas. I am told there is plenty of “wild land” down here, and plenty of coyotes. I want to believe that. I hope the coyotes can live free of terror and danger from the human inhabitants, and always have their long-established home on Alabama’s Gulf Coast.