Coexisting, Sensibly, With Wild Animals : Don’t Let Coyotes and Mountain Lions Feel at Home in Your Neighborhood

Reports of coyotes carrying off pets generally have been limited to remote canyon areas. But Orange County animal control officials say that may be changing, a belief backed up by separate incidents in two cities not known for being remote.

In Fullerton last month, a coyote leaped from a bush and bit a 3-year-old girl in the face. Days later, another wandered into a Mission Viejo living room and stayed until animal control specialists shooed the animal away.

The appearance of the coyotes should not be cause for alarm. They are akin to wild dogs, generally scared off easily. Still, there are precautions residents can take.

Animal control officials warn against feeding the animals or leaving garbage cans uncovered. Pets should not be allowed to roam outside unaccompanied by owners, and young children should not be left unattended.

Lt. Marie Hulett, a spokeswoman for Orange County Animal Control, said coyotes are becoming more comfortable living with people. That’s not surprising, since humans increasingly encroach on their territory. Coyotes associate humans with food and show up day or night at some homes.

Hulett said the animals generally do not attack humans. But children can be threatened because the coyotes may mistake them for another animal.

The best way to get rid of coyotes is by throwing rocks, squirting them with a hose, yelling or doing whatever possible to make them turn tail.

Hulett’s reasonable advice: “As long as we use common sense and follow simple safety precautions, we can all coexist.”

That comment is also worth heeding when it comes to mountain lions, which, although far more elusive than coyotes, are still occasionally seen in Orange County.

The Board of Supervisors has reopened Caspers Wilderness Park to children but has sensibly restricted them to the picnic area and several other sites. Children were banned from the park for three years after the county lost a lawsuit charging it did not warn visitors of the dangers of mountain lions in Caspers and one of the animals attacked a young girl.

Glimpsing a wild animal can be one of the joys of life here, so long as it’s from a distance, and preferably in a rural area.