To the Dogs

Residents living around White Rock Lake are afraid their neighborhoods may be going to the wild dogs.

 

Increased sightings and reports about missing pets have raised concerns about the coyote population around the lake, says Ben Davis, president of the Peninsula Neighborhood Association, located on the northeast side of White Rock.

 

“A lot of people out walking have seen them about dusk,” Davis says. “They’re not scared of people anymore, and that’s what’s got people worried.”

 

But wildlife experts say they don’t believe the coyote population is growing. The animals are simply more active and less fearful.

 

“They’ve always been here,” says John Davis, an urban biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “They’re going to be in residential areas; we can’t stop that.”

 

Other states, such as Colorado and California , have more serious problems with coyotes inhabiting urban areas, John Davis says.

 

“We’re seeing this in various neighborhoods, in cities across the state,” he says. “We have a golden opportunity to keep it from becoming a real problem.”

 

Ben Davis says the neighborhood association has asked the city of Dallas Animal Services to consider trapping and removing coyotes.

 

Becky Rader, who lives in Old Lake Highland Estates, says another area neighborhood hired trappers, but removing the animals does not solve the problem.

 

“It just leaves the door open for more coyotes to come in,” says Rader, a wildlife biologist. “I’m just not for that. It doesn’t work.”

 

Rader advocates educating the public on how to reduce confrontations with the animals, a stance supported by Parks and Wildlife Department officials.

 

Brett Johnson, another urban biologist with the department, says residents can take simple precautions to discourage visits from coyotes. The animals are opportunist eaters and scavenge for food, he says.

 

“The problems happen when citizens in the area have been feeding the coyotes — whether it’s intentional or unintentional,” he says.

 

Johnson recommends:

 

·        Don’t leave pet food outside.

 

·        Secure trash containers.

 

·        Clean up spills from bird feeders (Or eliminate them altogether. The birds and squirrels that eat the seed can attract the coyotes.)

 

·        Keep cats indoors and accompany small dogs when they go outside.

 

·        Supervise small children outside.

 

“Cats, small breeds of dogs — if you leave them outside, coyotes might look at them,” Johnson says. “We would prefer cats be inside anyway; they hit our bird population pretty hard.”

 

John Davis says maintaining the coyotes’ natural fear of humans is the most important safety measure.

 

“Any wild animal, when it loses its fear of humans, changes its behavior and increases the chance of dangerous encounters,” he says. “These animals are extremely smart. We don’t need to be having these coyotes think that we are not a threat. Keep them afraid of you.”

 

People who encounter coyotes should scare the animals away by throwing sticks and rocks, growling and yelling, he says.

 

Rader says she feels no fear about coyotes in her neighborhood.

 

“I have lived at the lake all my life. … We have wildlife here,” she says. “I’m more worried about a loose dog than a coyote.”

 

But Ben Davis, who recently saw two coyotes pacing outside his back fence, remains wary of animals that can leap an 8-foot wall.

 

“There’s so many of them now, and they’re hungry,” he says. “We never expected to have a coyote problem here in Dallas .”