Coot Shoot at Newport Country Club Draws Fire

It looked as serene as an Impressionist painting. Two dozen birds drifted across the sun-speckled pond, surrounded by the lush green lawns of a country club.

But to Jane Garrison, these birds were the hapless leftovers of an inhumane execution by gunfire. Garrison, an animal rights activist, kept watch all day Monday at the pond, unsuccessfully trying to rescue birds she believes were left injured by bird-control efforts at the Big Canyon Country Club.

By afternoon, this little band of coots even drew the attention of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a national animal-rights group that sent a letter to Big Canyon’s management urging against shooting birds to control their numbers.

“Please assure us that the Big Canyon Golf Course will adopt a humane policy and will no longer engage in the unjustifiable killing of coots or other animals,” wrote caseworker Stephanie Boyles at PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Va.

The small, black water birds called coots have long caused headaches for golf course operators in Southern California, where most of the natural wetlands have been destroyed by development. So coots have learned to relish golf course ponds, where they tear at vegetation and defecate on the well-groomed turf.

Confronted with golfers’ complaints, a number of golf courses have applied for permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to curb the number of coots by shooting them. The country club’s general manager, David Voorhees, said Monday that the service has issued a permit to the club, allowing the shooting of 225 coots between Jan. 15 and April 30 of this year.

“As far as my understanding is concerned, we’ve followed the letter of the permit to a T,” Voorhees said Monday.

But Garrison said she personally saw 12 to 15 coots at the club Monday that she believes were injured by gunfire.

“Even if they had a permit, they don’t have a permit to go out there and injure wildlife,” Garrison said. They have a permit to go out to kill wildlife.”

Fish and Wildlife special agent Lisa Nichols said the club has had permits in the past. Such permits allow birds to be shot but not left injured. Nichols said, however, that she has not heard any complaints about injured coots at Big Canyon.

Voorhees said he is was not aware of any coots left injured. A Newport Beach animal control agent visited the golf course Monday and found no injured birds, he said.

Permits to shoot coots are issued after a review by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which recommended Jan. 5 that Big Canyon be granted a permit to “take” 225 coots, said John Turman, USDA district supervisor for wildlife services.

“This certainly is not a unique situation. We’ve processed dozens of applications throughout the south district on coots,” Turman said.

USDA records show that Big Canyon first tried to ward off coots with Mylar tape, balloons, habitat alteration, human harassment and chemical sprays. “These people have gone through the appropriate steps to try to get their problems solved,” he said.

But PETA calls shooting birds an inappropriate response. Some golf courses have opted instead for grape-scented repellents or low fencing to prevent the birds from entering the water, Boyles said.

Garrison said she contacted the Newport Beach Police Department Monday night to complain.

“I want charges to be brought against this golf course,” Garrison said. She said she saw birds Monday that were stumbling, nursing injured wings.

“I’d bet . . . “ she said, “We’re going to find wounds from gunfire.”