When humans and coyotes encounter each other in cities, the people may actually be more to blame.
The same day that about 80 residents of suburbs west of Toronto filed into their central library for an information meeting about the wild canines, a police officer shot one dead in downtown Toronto’s port lands.
Police were attending to a human body that had been found in a wooded area. Although coyotes weren’t involved in the death, they had begun to scavenge the corpse. One of them exhibited no fear of people, and was killed when it approached an officer.
A three-fold increase in coyote sightings in 2012 inspired last Tuesday’s public information meeting by Mississauga’s Animal Services.
The take-home message from the meeting was that coyotes are part of the urban population now and humans have to adjust so both species get along.
Ministry of Natural Resources biologist John Pisapio told the crowd that the “ubiquitous, abundant, common” coyotes are no threat as long as they don’t become too familiar with being around people.
Human-sourced food, such as pet food left outdoors, fallen fruit and garbage leads to familiarity, and an animal that is still a wild predator is not a good neighbour, Mr. Pisapio suggested.
Peter George says he regularly sees coyotes lope down his street in southern Mississauga. A few years ago, soon after moving to his house, which backs onto the Credit River, his dog, a miniature pinscher, walked into the trees at the back of his unfenced yard. He heard a yelp and went to investigate. By the time he got there, his dog had been killed by coyotes.
He now has a 120-pound malamute that sleeps in a fenced kennel in his backyard. He says coyotes no longer come on his property, and he frequently sees six or seven rabbits at a time taking refuge near the large dog’s enclosure.
Whenever he’s out walking with his malamute and three other dogs, the coyotes keep their distance. At some point on the size scale, however, dogs go from being deterrents to prey.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/coyote-sightings-west-of-toronto-triple/article2396500/
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