CRACKING DOWN ON COYOTES

City tells residents how to reduce critters' food sources

Manhattan Beach has hired an animal trapper to investigate its coyote population before the City Council decides whether to trap — and possibly euthanize — the wild animals that in some cases have threatened residents and killed at least one pet.

The trapper will report to the City Council at its meeting Aug. 16, citing the number of coyotes in the area, the areas they frequent and their behavior, said George Gabriel, assistant to the city manager.

The City Council earlier this month asked staff to find a consultant, noting that the city's animal control division reported nine coyote sighting reports this year, Gabriel said. In one incident, a pet was killed. Five other incidents were cited as unproven attacks on pets.

The city has hired Humane Wildlife Control Inc. to conduct the investigation and to report back its findings. It is being paid $2,900.

As the investigation ramps up to start in next two weeks, the staff is informing the public how to avoid coyotes, including keeping trash bins tightly sealed, never leaving pet food outside and picking up fruit fallen from trees. The city is using door hangars to educate residents, Gabriel said, and the city's Reach Manhattan Beach app has a coyote sighting category.

Earlier this month, the city also considered removing dense brush that coyotes tend to use for dens, and updating a 2016 coyote management plan that appeared to show a drastic decrease in animal sightings by 2018. Both of those options and other regulations are on the table as the council awaits the report from the investigator.

Though the City Council doesn't want to wait until someone gets hurt before it starts trapping coyotes, Jessica West, a representative with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that human intervention doesn't succeed in regulating coyote populations — but reducing their available food and available space does.

“Lethal coyote population control isn't a long-term effective solution,” West said at a previous Manhattan Beach City Council meeting. “We've found coyotes in other neighboring areas will recognize a space is open and they'll fill it” — and have more litters.

Coyotes aren't hard-wired to view people as prey, West added, and biting humans is a learned behavior after repeated exposure to people.

MARK RIGHTMIRE — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Manhattan Beach officials are awaiting a report on coyote activity in the city as they decide how to handle the animals that have harmed pets and could potentially attack humans.