April 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 49

flicts can happen frequently.
" When coyotes first appear in urban
areas, there is a large measure of fear,
sometimes fed by the media and social
media, " says Fox, " but with proactive
education, fear is reduced, and there is
much more acceptance and appreciation. " She details how the city of San
Francisco agencies, working with nonprofit partners, public lands managers
and state wildlife officials, have developed strategies to educate the public and
eliminate the sources of human/wildlife
and pet/wildlife conflicts.
" Our problem is not so much direct
contact with coyotes. It is more about
people seeing coyotes in our parks, "
says Chris Matthews, division director
nature preserves and natural resources for Mecklenburg County Parks and
Recreation in North Carolina. " We had
a coyote observation reporting line, and
we learned that coyotes are everywhere
within our jurisdiction, including the
densest downtown areas. "

" Coyotes get a bad rap, " says Matthews. " We used to get a lot of calls, but
it is much less now. Sure, there are certain
times of the year when there are more
sightings, such as when they are breeding
and when pups are born, and then when
the young strike out on their own. But
most people have come to accept the presence of coyotes, " he explains, " especially after they realize they are not wolves.
Coyotes are very intelligent and very observant. They get used to people just as
you get used to having and seeing wildlife
in your parks and living near you. "
Evie Kirkwood, director of St. Joseph's
County Parks near South Bend, Indiana,
says they have documented coyotes in
every one of the parks in their 1,300-acre
system, but interactions with humans have
been minimal. In fact, she says, " Ninety
percent of the public does not even know
coyotes are in their parks. " Their staff is
trained and prepared to reply to questions
and concerns. She notes, however, that for
a variety of reasons, including state regu-

istockphoto.com

Coyotes are omnivorous, intelligent, adaptable - and they are here to stay in parks.

lations and a lack of qualified personnel,
their staff does not trap coyotes - that is
strictly the function of state wildlife personnel or state-authorized trappers. Kirkwood notes that park staff does not refer
coyote complaints to commercial trappers
for control by lethal trapping. " One thing
I learned from Stan Gehrt of OSU, " Fox
shares, " is that when you trap a coyote, you
will not be done with coyotes. The void
will be filled by other coyotes sooner or
later. " Fox, Gehrt, Kanter and others with
knowledge of coyote population dynamics
emphasize this point. " If you remove established coyotes from an area, they will be
replaced and very quickly, either from local
populations or transients traveling through
their territories, " says Gehrt.
Heading Off Conflicts
Conflicts with pets are one area of legitimate concern for pet owners and
park managers. Dogs that are off-leash
or those permitted to roam outside of
their owner's supervision can come into

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Parks & Recreation

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April 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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