‘Track them, shoot them’
Some Newport Beach residents say they favor killing coyotes.
Newport Beach’s plan to deal with aggressive coyotes — including a color-coded alert system and an emphasis on education — has left some residents less than satisfied.
Many of the more than 80 people at last week’s Speak Up Newport meeting who have lost pets to coyotes said they were tired of living in fear of the animals.
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful,” Geoff Wiegman of Corona del Mar said after listening to a city animalcontrol officer present an overview of the pilot program.
“If you had a pack of wild dogs in town, you’d do something about it. If you had a rabid pit bull running around, you’d do something. The people here want to see action. Track them, shoot them. If I see one on the road, I’m going to run it over. If it comes in my yard, I will shoot it. You can throw me in jail.”
This past summer, residents began to demand solutions to what they said was a growing problem of coyotes attacking and killing pets.
In July, more than 100 people gathered for a memorial for a dog that was killed in a coyote attack in front of its owner. In September, the police department — which created a coyote information Web page in July — urged residents to report coyote sightings and attacks so it could gather data and warn the public.
The pilot program, which will need City Council approval before it is implemented, focuses on educating the public to help drive coyotes away from populated areas, said animal-control officer Nick Ott.
Residents need to reduce food sources for coyotes, he said, including keeping pets and pet food indoors, removing fruit that has fallen from trees and keeping garbage cans closed tightly. Residents also need to scare coyotes by yelling at them, blowing horns or whistles or throwing rocks or other items in the animals’ direction.
Residents’ coyote reports will be analyzed so volunteers can warn neighbors of problems in their area with door hangers or at homeowners meetings, Ott said.
A four-tiered color-code system also would be implemented. Green would signify that a coyote was seen but was not acting aggressively; yellow would mean it was losing its fear; orange would mean that pets had been attacked; and red would mean a coyote came in contact with a human.
“This is the level where we’d start considering the option of lethal removal of the coyote,” Ott said.
State officials would be involved in an investigation before the animal was killed, he added.
Lt. Kent Smirl of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who attended last week’s community meeting, told the audience that he understood that losing a pet was traumatic. But a few residents began to shout at him.
“Why not kill them all?” said Doug Muncy of Corona del Mar. “We have packs of three, four, five coming through. … We want to kill them now.”
Smirl said a program called Wildlife Watch is being developed and, like a Neighborhood Watch for animals, would teach residents to report wildlife problems as well as tend their property to prevent attracting animals.
But audience members demanded that coyotes be trapped, removed and killed.
“If these were mosquitoes, you’d get rid of them,” said Nancy Whelan of Newport Beach, who said eight dogs had been killed by coyotes in the past year in her neighborhood.
“If we had rats, you wouldn’t say to pick up your trash. You’d get rid of them.”