Coyotes
Hi Neighbors
I am not sure if anyone else attended the DNR presentation about coyotes 2/29 at the town hall.  I thought I would share the highlights.

For one thing, coyotes in our area are relatively new.  They have adapted well to living in urban areas.  Mostly they eat our mice, rabbits, and berries.

Most coyotes are just passing thru to areas more remote than neighborhoods.  But do not make our neighborhood a magnet for them.  Never feed them.  The DNR suggests not feeding birds or having compose piles either.

The most important thing to do is to scare them away, scare them away beyond the border of the your yard.  You do not want to make them feel safe in our neighborhood.  Yell, make loud noises to get them to run away.   If they do not run away or are aggressive, or appear to be sick, call the Mt. Pleasant police.  Spring time is when they have their young and they are more territorial in that period.

If you have dogs or small children (they have attacked dogs, not children), do not leave them out unattended.  Since they are normally more active at dusk or dawn, do not let your dogs go out without first checking the area.  Keep the dog on a lease.

They assured the audience that seeing them during the day is not unusual.  It could mean these animals are not afraid of people.  We need to make them afraid to be in our neighborhood.

Also, since they can have diseases your dogs can catch, if you see any scat (usually hairy) please remove it.

Can you kill them?  Basically no, but you can call a trapper.  But getting rid of a alpha coyote could mean having the pack split up and having more packs.

Basically they said they are here to stay and we have to learn to live with each other.

Go on the DNR website if you see a coyote so they can keep track.

See YouTube How to Haze a Coyote, Public Heath Madison and Dane County.

Michele Caskey