Urban wildlife specialist Lynsey White Dasher provides residents with tips on dealing with coyotes at a free seminar offered at the P.D. Pitchford Companion Village Auditorium on Aug. 16
Staff Writer
As coyote sightings increase throughout the cities of Long Beach, Signal Hill and Seal Beach, Long Beach Animal Care Services is asking residents to take action by influencing the behavior of the wild canines that have habitated in urban areas.
Lynsey White Dasher, an urban wildlife specialist with The Humane Society of the United States, spoke to more than 50 concerned residents on Aug. 16 at the P.D. Pitchford Companion Village Auditorium about coyote ecology behavior and how people can do their part in ridding their community of coyote threats.
Dasher identified the coyotes living within city boundaries as habituated coyotes. Transient coyotes, which are those looking for a new home range, can also be found roaming in urban neighborhoods. “Habituated coyotes have lost their fear of people through humans not doing anything when they see coyotes,” White said. “[They’re] incredibly smart and adaptable. That intelligence allows them to live amongst us.”
While numerous pets have unfortunately fallen prey to coyotes throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties, Dasher reinforced her belief that a combination of education and hazing is far more effective than killing or relocating the growing coyote population.
She discussed how coyotes are opportunistic, and oftentimes residents are leaving out food in plain sight. Pet food, trash and even fruit that have fallen from trees are all sources of food.
She also educated attendees about the coyote’s diet, which normally includes raccoons, rodents, chipmunks and other small mammals. “Only two percent of their diet is human-associated food, trash and scraps, and only one percent was actually pets,” Dasher said, in addressing the fact that small dogs and cats can be often mistaken for the same wild mammals coyotes hunt.
The biggest attractants for coyotes are unintentional and intentional feeding. Dasher said coyotes have learned that humans are not a threat, which has led them to enter the front or back yard of a home looking for food. She encouraged residents to be more proactive with not leaving out a pet’s water and food bowls or other attractants since the normally nocturnal canines can roam year-round from dusk to dawn.
In addition to the seminar titled “Living with Urban Coyotes,” residents received handouts containing guidelines for preventing and dealing with intruding coyotes. Some of the most common tips included:
• Keep trash in high-quality containers with tight-fitted lids.
• Never leave pets, especially small dogs or cats, outside unattended. Always keep them on leashes in pubic areas, and never allow them to interact with coyotes.
• When spotting a coyote, an individual should utilize various hazing techniques to instill a fear in coyotes. Hazing may include making yourself loud and tall to scare them away, using noisemakers, throwing objects and or squirting a water hose.
• Never run away from a coyote, and consistently haze it using various techniques to ensure that it has left for good.
• Installing motion-activated sprinklers or strobe lights and scarecrows have also been proven effective. Coyote rollers, which are rods installed at the tops of fences that roll and prevent animals from being able to climb over, may be installed.
More Information
humanesociety.org/animals/coyotes
