Coyote cautious

COVERAGE AREA -

Coyote attacks are rare, but not impossible.

After a 19-year-old woman was attacked and died after suffering multiple bite wounds throughout her body by two coyotes on Oct. 27, 2009 in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia, senior biologist with the Department of Environment and Conservation Mike McGrath said some people have become uneasy about the animals - especially in areas of increased sightings.

"It seems that people are more aware of coyotes now since that incident in Nova Scotia," said Mr. McGrath. "The other thing is that coyotes have only been here for the last 20 years and their numbers are slightly increasing annually."

Coyotes were first reported in Newfoundland when 'wolf-like dogs' were seen crossing the ice near the Port au Port Peninsula in the spring of 1985. However, the first confirmed coyote on the Island was a pup hit by a car near Deer Lake in 1987. By the mid-1990s coyotes were present throughout most of the Island.

By nature, coyotes have a fear of people and attacks are rare. Only if a coyote becomes too comfortable around people and begins to associate humans with food are they considered dangerous.

Mr. McGrath said there was a recent study carried out on human encounters with coyotes across North America.

"They looked at over 140 incidents of attacks or potential encounters with coyotes and 98 per cent of them occurred in people's backyards or park-like situations," said Mr. McGrath. "The two per cent of incidents occurred in the back country, so by large the vast amount of negative encounters with coyotes were associated with people leaving food out in the back yards for their pets, having garbage unattended to - the same items that would attract bears."

Mr. McGrath said people have to be vigilant when leaving a potential food source near their property, but not to worry if they see a coyote sporadically.

"We recommend that if someone has an occasional sighting of a coyote, there is no reason to be overly concerned," he said. "There are coyotes roaming through the back woods, but our main concern would be if there is an animal that is repeatedly seen in a particular area. Those are the animals that could potentially become a threat.

"When a wild animal becomes used to people there is no fear and of course there is a greater risk of having a close encounter if they are attracted to a persons backyard. If they aren't as afraid of people as they should be, those are the 98 per cent of the negative encounters with coyotes."

However, if a coyote approaches and demonstrates aggression, Mr. McGrath said the best thing to do is to make a lot of noise and show aggression to the animal.

"Don't turn your back on a wild animal and run away screaming," he said. "Instead, show some aggression towards the animal like shouting - make yourself loud and back away slowly."

Mr. McGrath said with the increase in annual numbers, there is no doubt coyotes will become a more frequent visitor in rural Newfoundland.

"They are found in every major city in North America in the thousands," he said. "We have very low numbers compared to other places, but they are living in downtown Calgary and Toronto. They are feeding on back yard garbage and even cats in the cities - places like Calgary don't have problems with roaming cats anymore because coyotes feed on them."

Recent reports

On Feb. 15 the Lewisporte RCMP reported a potential coyote sighting and attack on a pet in Birchy Bay. Mr. McGrath said the incident has not been confirmed.

"The owner actually called the RCMP and said they thought they saw something running by the window, it could have been a coyote or it could very well have been a dog," he said. "The pet, a German Sheppard, came into the home and the owners said it was limping, but I had a Conservation Officer go down and have a look and it wasn't confirmed as a coyote."

However, as word spread and a news release went national, the story was picked up by media outlets across the country.

"The story went national, which was unfortunate," said Mr. McGrath. "But the RCMP did issue a release to keep pets (and children) inside or to keep them under supervision when outside, which is a good practice."