Rangers End Hunt for Coyotes That Closed Cheeseboro Park

Rangers gave up their search for aggressive coyotes in a heavily used Agoura Hills mountain park Tuesday, two weeks after several visitors reported being chased or attacked by the animals.

Rangers had made twice-daily forays on horseback through Cheeseboro Canyon, but decided to end the patrols Tuesday, said Jean Bray, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

“We have not discovered any atypical coyote behavior,” Bray said.

Rangers saw as many as three or four coyotes a day in the 2,100-acre canyon, “anywhere from five feet to 350 yards away,” she said, “and they displayed their normal coyote behavior--that is to turn and run as soon as they noticed humans were in the area.”

The canyon--used by hikers, horse riders and mountain bicycle enthusiasts--was closed July 21 after Michael Rizzo, 42, of Agoura reported he was attacked by three coyotes as he rode a horse through it two days before. Rizzo was bitten on the arm by one of the animals, which he said leaped onto the horse’s back.

The day of the closing, two men reported they were riding horses in the park and were chased for more than a mile at a full gallop by three coyotes. At the news conference announcing the closing, Harry Jones, 56, of Agoura Hills, stepped forward to report that he and his wife were chased by three coyotes while walking their dog in the park July 18.

“Those coyotes saw us and came after us like gangbusters. They went crazy,” Jones told reporters.

Some wildlife experts expressed doubt that normally shy coyotes would band to attack people, and suggested wild or stray dogs might be to blame.

“The word I got from the specialists was that it’s difficult to even give a description of coyotes because their colors are not always the same, and it’s difficult to tell a tan-colored dog from a coyote,” Bray said.

“And there are stray dogs in the area.”

However, the National Park Service isn’t discounting the reports, she said, and rangers lack conclusive evidence to blame the attacks on dogs.

The canyon, which abuts residential neighborhoods, had 13,400 visitors in the first half of the year and 2,500 in June alone.