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Residents raise concern about coyotes

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With year-round coyote sightings in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, residents should take precautions, police say.

“We’ve had animals that have been killed by coyotes in our neighborhood,” said Laura Boss, who lives in the Paularino area. “They are all around us. It’s good to be mindful of some of the precautions we can take in our neighborhood.”

Boss, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s spokeswoman, reached out to the Daily Pilot after a community member asked the district to educate families about the dangers of coyotes. The Pilot has also received two letters in recent months ago about coyote attacks on pet dogs.

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Coyotes frequent both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, according to police.

“We don’t get a lot in December and January, but pretty much 10 months out of the year, we’ll get calls,” said Valerie Schomburg, a senior animal control officer for the Newport Beach Police Department.

Coyotes have many open spaces in the Newport Coast area where they can live, Schomburg said.

Most sightings occur in the early mornings or late at night, she added.

“We’ve seen coyotes in the vast majority of [Costa Mesa],” said Sgt. Phil Myers, animal control supervisor for the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Residents should pick low-hanging fruit in their yards and keep an eye on small pets at all times, Myers said.

For more information about how to safely live with coyotes, the Huntington Beach Police Department is holding a coyote workshop next week.

Lynsey White Dasher, an urban wildlife specialist from the Humane Society of the United States, will present the workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Central Library Theater at 7111 Talbert Ave. in Huntington Beach.

dailypilot@latimes.com

Twitter: @TheDailyPilot

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