The coyotes next door

Unwanted neighbors are vexing, but when they happen to be coyotes, eviction isn’t always an option. Unlike bears that wander into neighborhoods, coyotes, by law, cannot be returned to a nearby wilderness.

And they’ll take a lushly landscaped block in Glendale, where residents reported a pack living in a burned-out house earlier this month, over the Angeles National Forest anyway. Coyotes thrive near humans, bedding down in bushes and feasting on garbage, low-hanging fruit, pet food left outside — and the small pets it’s left for.

Aggressive hunters, they can hop a fence and snatch up a small dog or cat and flee before a stunned owner can utter a word. Most coyotes avoid people, but some are fearless, occasionally attacking adults or small children, particularly if they get in the way of prey. Killing a human is rare. The last Southern California fatality was in 1981, when a 3-year-old girl was killed by a coyote in her frontyard in Glendale.

In the case of the recent Glendale sightings, residents asked that the animals be removed, then protested when they heard that county officials would trap and shoot them. Apparently they heard wrong. Although trapped coyotes are later killed, county officials say they hadn’t even decided whether to set traps. Ultimately, city officials said they would work to speed up demolition of the empty house in the hope that simply depriving the coyotes of the property would persuade them to move on.

County officials say they never set traps before advising communities on ways to avoid enticing the animals and assessing whether they are threatening humans. “For every hundred calls we get, only one of those will result in us placing a trap,” said Ray Smith, deputy director of the office that handles problems with coyotes for unincorporated parts of the county and contract cities. Public safety is paramount, but we agree with county officials that they should ask questions first — and try other ideas — before they shoot. And that’s if they can catch the animals. Coyotes excel at outsmarting traps.

Smith estimates that 5,000 to 10,000 coyotes roam the county, and says sightings are up this summer. But there are numerous ways to keep safe: Don’t put out plastic bags of trash except in securely lidded bins; keep small pets indoors; never leave small children unattended in areas where coyotes have been seen. And above all, don’t leave food out for them.

For better and for worse, coyotes are our neighbors, and we must find ways to cope with them.