COYOTE TRAP SET FOR AILING ANIMAL.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Less than a week after the city removed its own coyote traps in Northridge and Woodland Hills, another trap was placed in Griffith Park to catch a ``bleeding and almost bald'' coyote, officials said Wednesday.

The trap was set after a resident reported seeing a coyote in his driveway, and then two animal control officers saw the canine and believed it was sick, officials said.

``Its skin looked rotten,'' said Capt. Louis Dedeaux of the North-Central Division of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services.

``One officer said he saw blood on the coyote and said it looked like it was suffering,'' he said. ``It needs help and the humane thing to do is to trap it.''

Officers declined to identify where the coyote was seen.

Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles, said the group is concerned about the new trap in Griffith Park.

``I just hope if they are targeting a particular sick coyote that they are monitoring the trap,'' Bernstein said. ``Any animal can get into a trap and the temperatures are warm outside so it's imperative if any animal gets into that trap that it not be subject to inhumane conditions for a long period of time.''

The City Council voted in 1993 to sharply curtail the practice, but Animal Services General Manager Dan Knapp said he authorized the placement of traps recently in Northridge and Woodland Hills because coyotes posed a threat to pets and children.

Knapp said he ordered the traps removed last week after discovering that residents had not followed the city's guidelines for trapping, which involves raising fences to 8 feet, installing chicken wire under the fence and removing food and water sources around the home.

No coyotes were caught.

``We do very little trapping and we plan to do very little trapping because it's not a long-term solution,'' Knapp said.

Traps will be used only when the coyote is sick or injured, has rabies or poses a health or safety risk, said Knapp.

Generally, trapping does not work because the remaining members of the coyote pack either have larger litters or allow outsiders to move into the area, Knapp said.

``Trapping increases the population,'' Knapp said.

The solution is to make sure garbage can lids are secure, pick up fruit and keep pet food and water dishes inside, Knapp said.

In addition to raising fences, homeowners should set the top at a 45-degree angle and install chicken wire a foot below to prevent burrowing, he said.

``Coyotes are very smart,'' he said.

If homeowners follow these measures and still have a problem with a coyote, they can ask for permission to trap the animals, Knapp said.