Wily ‘Welfare Coyotes’ Pester Park Tourists : Outdoors: Animals in Death Valley block traffic and nip visitors who are slow in offering treats. Feeding the wildlife makes the problem worse, rangers say.

They stop cars on the lonely desert roads here, shaking down tourists for potato chips and sandwiches. They brazenly pull at a visitor’s pant leg to get attention. And sometimes they take a nip at those who are slow to oblige.

They are known as the “welfare coyotes,” a pack of rogue animals, supremely adaptable and intelligent, who have become a nuisance bordering on a menace around campgrounds in the last few months, particularly at Stove Pipe Wells, Furnace Creek and Wild Rose Canyon.

“The coyotes have figured out that if they get out in the road and stop traffic the tourists will feed them,” Death Valley National Monument Ranger Kevin Emmerich said. “It’s become a really big problem.”

Rangers estimate that there are only a dozen troublemakers among the 1,000 coyotes that roam the monument’s 3,200 square miles.

But it was at Wild Rose recently that one rogue coyote bit a man on the leg, although the visitor was not injured seriously. Another man was bitten as he was reaching into his car for a sandwich. About half a dozen incidents ranging from nipping clothing to biting have been reported to rangers in the last three months.

Coyotes are normally shy and reclusive. But last year a coyote was shot by rangers because of its aggressive behavior. The rangers fear that more coyotes may have to be killed if they continue to threaten people because they can carry diseases such as rabies. For now, park officials are considering milder tactics, including tranquilizing and relocating the rogue coyotes to more remote areas of the park.

The recent problems are the result of tourists feeding the coyotes to get close-up photos, rangers say.

“People aren’t telling us about this--they know they shouldn’t be doing this,” Emmerich said.

But “the coyote knows now that approaching people is a way to get food. It has lost its fear of man. Even throwing rocks at them doesn’t always chase them away,” Emmerich said.

It is illegal to feed wild animals in a national park or monument, a misdemeanor that carries a $50 fine. So far the rangers have not cited any visitors for violating the rule. But they are trying to educate tourists about the hazards for people as well as for coyotes.

“If it becomes dependent on handouts, the coyote will lose its ability to hunt,” Ranger Glenn Gossard said. “And as the most common predator in the monument, the coyote is very important in controlling the rodent population.”

Emmerich said the welfare coyotes prowl for goodies alone or in packs. Lately, a gang of three has been stopping traffic at Stove Pipe Wells to beg for treats from visitors’ picnic baskets, he said.

Ken Wagenknecht, a volunteer who helps the rangers at Stove Pipe Wells, is familiar with the four-legged panhandlers.

“There seems to be about five of them that are the worst,” Wagenknecht said. “They stand in the middle of the road in front of cars until the car slows down. They know if they can get the car to stop, food usually comes out the window.”

Wagenknecht said he has been impressed by the animals’ keen intelligence. “They’ve learned to look both ways carefully before they cross the road. How long does it take to teach a kid that?”

The coyotes also seem to know whom to dodge. The park volunteer noted that “when they see a ranger in his uniform, they run away,” but they will walk right up to a man in Bermuda shorts eating a hot dog.

“It’s getting to be dangerous,” Wagenknecht said. “These are wild animals that don’t distinguish that much between a sandwich and a hand.”