By Dennis Kaiser
Rossmoor pet owners and parents of small children say they have been concerned lately about danger from coyotes in their neighborhood.
One of them is Rebecca Lara.
“We have lived here in Rossmoor for 25 years peacefully. Now with the encroachment of coyotes and constant missing pets I am fearful to walk our dogs within our own neighborhood,” Lara said. “It is extremely sad to constantly see signs of pet owners seeking their ‘lost’ pets.
“We have even had one female witness a coyote walking towards a child on his way to school … I am fearful that the county will not do something until we have lost a child.”
Members of the Rossmoor Homeowners Association met with officials from the city of Seal Beach, Seal Beach Police, California Fish and Game and Long Beach Animal Care Services on Saturday, May 1 at Edison Park to discuss the issue. The community meeting followed reports of a growing number of pets suspected of being killed by coyotes.
According to a prepared statement by the RHA, it has received “credible information from homeowners and veterinarians that attacks on Rossmoor pets in their own backyards by coyotes has significantly increased in 2010.”
The RHA statement said it learned that two dogs, a cockatoo and a dachshund, were “viciously killed in separate incidents within the past month in their own backyards by a coyote. In addition, three more Rossmoor dogs, two dachshunds in one case and a west highland terrier in the other incident, were attacked in their back yards, seriously injured but fortunately survived after medical treatment.”
Officials say the problem of coyotes co-existing in residential areas is hard to solve. Ryan Drabeck of Orange County Animal Control, said coyotes are not without protection from authorities.
“They really fall under the authority of Fish and Game,” he said. “We normally trap and relocate or eradicate coyotes.”
According to John Keisler, bureau manager of the city of Long Beach Animal Care Services, most local animal control agencies don’t have the expertise to trap and relocate coyotes.
“They usually hire private trappers, but only in isolated cases,” he said. One of the problems, he explained is that when you relocate coyotes you effect the balance of nature and add to the growth of the population of other animals that are the coyote’s food source.
“This can cause other health issues,” he said.
Drabeck said agencies would eradicate coyotes, however, if they display unusual behavior. He described one instance in which a coyote was hunted down and killed after it showed no natural fear of humans.
“It is important to note that while we investigated (519) formal domestic dog and cat bites of people last year alone, we have never had a report of a coyote biting a person on record,” Drabeck said. “However, coyotes present a very real threat to small pets and should not be tolerated if they become dependent on people for food, water and shelter. It was discovered that the coyote we captured three weeks ago in Los Altos (Long Beach), had been fed ham by a resident … hence its comfort level around people.”
There are many sources for advice on how to take precautions related to coyotes.
For a complete list of coyote prevention measures, see the RHA website at www.rossmoor-rha.org.
The RHA asks that people report coyote sightings to it (562) 799-1401 or by email at rha@rossmoor-rha.org. It said they want to “create a record to show the county the extent of our problem and get them to take action to protect our dogs and cats.”
