{"id":604,"date":"2018-08-06T18:04:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T01:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999913080"},"modified":"2018-08-06T18:04:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T01:04:39","slug":"coyotes-sightings-long-beach-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/coyotes-sightings-long-beach-social-media","title":{"rendered":"Summer brings more coyote sightings; here’s what to do if you encounter one"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by H. Kucera.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coyote sightings\u2014as well as gruesome descriptions of missing, mangled and half-eaten cats\u2014are popping up with increasing frequency on Nextdoor and other social media sites, conjuring replies that either offer suggestions and sympathy or blame politicians for not ridding the state of predators.<\/p>\n

Every year at this time, there seems to be an increase in sightings and concern that coyotes are becoming more invasive. Kyle Orr, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, has another explanation for what appears to be an upward trend\u2014human invasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would follow that there would be more sightings,\u201d Orr said. \u201cWe keep adding more people to the state, and we keep building farther into their habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orr added that suburbs and residential areas have a lot of what coyotes want\u2014more water, open spaces like parks and golf courses, and plentiful food sources, be they rodents or domestic pets\u2014and they adapt readily to residential areas. Relocating them to the wild, he said, isn\u2019t effective because \u201cthere is no \u2018wild\u2019 with coyotes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey certainly can and do survive in wilderness, but if they feel like moving back, they will,\u201d Orr said.<\/p>\n

Historical incidents of coyote bounty hunting still didn\u2019t eliminate coyotes, which Orr said was a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoyotes have their uses, such as keeping down the rodent population,\u201d he said \u201cWe want people to cohabit with them and take common-sense precautions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shut down Wile E.\u2019s buffet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Orr and Ted Stevens, manager at Long Beach Animal Care Services, stressed the primary precaution of not feeding the animals, either deliberately or inadvertently.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Feeding them outright] is illegal,\u201d Orr said. \u201cAnd they don\u2019t need the help. Once they\u2019re in an area, they lose their fear of humans. So, limit their food sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coyotes will eat anything and everything\u2014animals alive and dead, trash from uncovered cans, pet food left out and even fruit fallen from trees.<\/p>\n

Stevens hasn\u2019t observed a general increase in coyote behavior from year to year, but sightings do increase during the hot months, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always picks up this time of year because coyotes are more active and they\u2019re out later, and the pups are also coming out of the den,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cPeople are out doing things, too, so there\u2019s more opportunity to see the coyotes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-education is always key<\/strong><\/p>\n

ACS\u2019s Living with the Urban Coyote page<\/a> has a link<\/a> for reporting coyote activity, and a map<\/a> pinpointing coyote sightings in Long Beach and the level of activity, from low to high. Other links include an overview of the urban coyote, cautions and precautions for pets and humans, and what to do if a coyote is encountered. Hazing, or jumping and yelling and waving your arms around to ward off the animals, is an often-suggested practice that Steven said has mixed results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know whether coyotes are becoming hardened to hazing or getting used to people,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cCertain coyotes are less responsive to hazing. I read comments like \u2018I yelled and screamed and he didn\u2019t run.\u2019 It\u2019s also hard to tell what kind of hazing is done\u2014yelling through the screen door is less effective than screaming and clapping, or throwing something at them. As for the cats, we\u2019re still having more of them killed by cars than by coyotes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, the best place for cats is indoors, although there are examples of inventiveness for intractable felines who will not be brought indoors under any circumstances. These guys are usually former strays who haven’t totally acclimated to people.<\/p>\n

The high-tech Center for Urban Resilience coyote-behavior study<\/a>, a three-year assessment of coyote activity in Long Beach, is in its second year of operation, and Stevens is expecting to get good data about behavior and diet from scat analysis and information from the tracking devices on the trees. More community meetings may be scheduled as well.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Stevens advises residents to educate themselves via the wildlife page. Common-sense precautions on the page include the following:<\/p>\n