ANIMALS 'LANDLOCKED' TO ON-CAMPUS LIVING.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - The hunt is on for an elusive band of coyotes that has taken over the Pierce College farm, killing dozens of stray cats and threatening livestock.

A stalled construction project has ``landlocked'' the coyotes but school officials and wildlife experts so far have been unable to locate the den and remove the animals.

``We're just a big cafeteria for the coyotes,'' said Bill Lander, Pierce College's resident farmer, who lives on the 200 acres of farm land at the college. ``They're all over campus going through the trash cans. Administrators are worried about the students, especially at night, because of the possibility of rabies or somebody getting bit.

``Coyotes are like serial killers. It's not if they'll take any livestock, it's just when.''

Lander said the Warner Ridge housing project at Oxnard Street and De Soto Avenue was entirely fenced after the land was graded, locking in an unknown number of coyotes that occasionally come down from the Santa Monica Mountains but rarely stay very long.

The coyotes often use storm channels to travel from place to place looking for food. A dirt mound now blocks the storm drain out of Pierce College so the coyotes have made a home on campus, where they're protected from being hunted by city laws.

The Pierce coyotes are the latest example of suburbia's battle with nature, a fight picked up by those who feel threatened by the carnivorous canines, and groups that want to preserve wildlife.

Wildlife preservationist Michael Bell has threatened to sue the city if it revokes its coyote policy, which states that a coyote can't be trapped or killed unless the animal is sick or injured.

``Unless someone is feeding coyotes in their back yard there really has been no reason for any fear of coyotes,'' he said. ``I see coyotes on my street on Ventura Boulevard about once a month. Not six months ago, I was walking my dog, and a coyote challenged him to play and then eventually he went on his way. I have no fear of attack. I never have, and I never will.''

But some residents do.

From Ventura Boulevard to Rinaldi Street, residents have called city officials to report coyote sightings. In Northridge late last year, residents were so concerned about the animals, many parents barred their children from playing unsupervised in back yards.

City officials have tried to find a happy medium, issuing pamphlets educating the public about the wild animals and listing safety tips for a peaceful coexistence.

``Trapping is not an effective method for reducing the presence of coyotes, and most often does not result in removing the targeted animal,'' said Dan Knapp, general manager of the city's Animal Services Department. ``The coyote, when left alone, will regulate its own numbers. When a coyote is trapped, the remaining members will fill the vacancy with larger and stronger litters. When left alone, however, the coyote will regulate its own numbers.''

The city will allow trapping only if a coyote has rabies, is sick or injured, or is deemed a threat to the public health by county, state or federal authorities.

Al Avila, president of the Board of Animal Regulation Commission, is not surprised that coyote sightings in the Valley are up.

``They are not only in the foothill areas of the rim of the Valley, they are coming into the Valley flats,'' he said.

The furor over coyotes in the Valley is expected to come to a head within the next couple of months when the commission will hear from staff members on a report on coyotes, and review the department's policy.

While there haven't been any reports of attacks on humans at Pierce College, students report regularly seeing coyotes at all hours of the day.

Coyotes have dug at least two dens underneath trees in Canyon Delana, the nature center for biology and nature resources classes, hidden above the southwest portion of the campus. Lander said he has seen two adults and one young coyote on campus.

The school offers an array of fresh rodents, insects and cats. Pierce had been home to large colonies of stray cats that are fed by sympathetic students, faculty members and campus employees. But most of those cats have disappeared in the last few weeks.

``We think (the coyotes) have cut down our cat population,'' Lander said.

The horses are also a little bugged.

Pierce agriculture student Lira Vickers had a close encounter with a coyote recently while riding her 7-year-old mare, Lark, in the campus riding arena.

``We've seen them a couple of times,'' said the 46-year-old student, who boards Lark at the barn on campus. ``I enjoy seeing wildlife, but my horse didn't like it. She almost put me on the ground when the coyote popped up, because to her he's like a wolf. He's a predator to her.''

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) Footprints, left, serve as a reminder of the presence of coyotes at Pierce College, instilling fear for livestock, such as sheep and lambs, at top, which are being locked up at night, and bunnies, right, at the Woodland Hills campus.

(4) Pierce College resident farmer Bill Lander surveys farmland around the campus, where coyote sightings have become more common.

Andy Holzman and John McCoy/Staff Photographers