A citizen phoned the Seal Beach Police to report a coyote on Leisure World’s Interlachen Road at 5:49 p.m., Sunday, April 6.
Police referred the coyote sighting to Long Beach Animal Care Services.
Coyote season is here.
Ted Stankowich, an assistant professor of biological sciences at California State University Long Beach, said coyotes probably mated from January through March. He said female coyotes would be pregnant or having pups by now.
Mayor Ellery Deaton said that things were quiet during the winter, when coyotes were dormant, but now that it is spring again, the coyotes will be back.
Deaton said she has asked the city manager to put up more signage warning the public about coyotes.
Stankowich said he hadn’t heard of any incidents in the last 30 days. But he was not surprised to hear that coyote activity might be increasing locally. He said the weather has been warming and the breeding season has started, so they will be out more.
He said adult coyotes feed their young regurgitated food. So adults will be out looking to feed their young.
The pups will leave their dens in about six to eight months.
Stankowich said he was working with engineering colleagues at CSULB to develop a prototype device to teach coyotes not to eat people’s pets. He described it as “aversive conditioning.”
He said they are waiting for funding and hopes to be able to test a prototype device next winter and spring.
In the meanwhile, Stankowich advises people who see coyotes to haze them—to harass them and if possible to throw objects or spray water at them.
Stankowich advised people to be aggressive. They shouldn’t run away.
He said to “provide a negative experience for the coyotes in the area.”
Stankowich said that the more unpleasant their experience is in the area, the more likely they are to leave the area.
Deaton believes signage and education are important to dealing with Seal Beach’s coyote problem.
She said we are surrounded by wetlands and open space—which are the coyotes’ habitat.
However, Stankowich said that the Naval Weapons Station coyote population is stable at 10 to 12 individuals.
He said the problem animals are living among our houses.
Stankowich said our neighborhoods can probably support a more dense population of coyotes than the Navy base can.
He also said there are probably more coyotes per square mile in the neighborhoods than on the Naval base.
Stankowich said that if people have a pet with them when they see the coyote, they should pick up their pet.
Deaton said people need to keep their pets in at night. She said she has been working with Stankowich to get a research project started in this area, to look at repelling coyotes from Seal Beach neighborhoods.
As for the coyote signage, Deaton said the signs need to come down in the winter and go back up in the spring. She said people won’t notice the signs if they are up all the time.
