COYOTES COMFY AMONG VALLEY NEIGHBORHOODS.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Don Whittemore couldn't believe the nerve - a little coyote pup, without a fear in the world, just hanging out in his Woodland Hills back yard last week, eyeing Whittemore's pet cat and watching the humans watching him.

Neighbor Marie-Michelle Hewett has coyotes visiting her back yard, too, despite her two, 110-pound dogs.

That kind of brazen swagger has come from years of allowing coyotes to roam free in neighborhoods across the San Fernando Valley and the rest of the city, animal officials say, and it's behavior they want to stop in its tracks.

``We don't want you having stare-downs. We want you to yell and scream and turn this around,'' said Los Angeles City wildlife officer Troy Boswell, who met with residents of one neighborhood Wednesday to show them how to deter coyotes.

``Around urban areas, coyote populations are much greater than wildlife areas ... That's only because the living's so easy,'' he said. ``Now we have coyotes shopping neighborhoods for food and sustenance.''

City animal control officials said years of simply trapping and destroying the animals - or of simply not responding to residents' complaints - has bred a bold coyote population.

After a record dry summer, a slew of other critters - rats, squirrels and field mice - are coming down from the hillsides and into neighborhoods, where they're eating from dog bowls and drinking from swimming pools.

But experts said that's not the case with coyotes, who for generations have been born and raised near urban areas.

``These animals were born here. All they know how to do is eat dogs and cats and trash. If you took them out to a wildlife area, they'd probably die of starvation,'' Boswell said.

``The Valley seems to have more roaming groups of coyotes - family groups of a half-dozen or more. They're getting toward adulthood and they're trying to find their way around the world. People are seeing a lot more because there are a lot more.''

Hewett said she's seen the change in the 15 years she's watched the coyotes lope across her Topanga Canyon Boulevard property to drink from her swimming pool.

``They seem to be getting a little more and more familiar. Now you can really see them a few feet away,'' she said, adding that the coyotes seem undeterred by her two big dogs.

``We see them during the day - full bright - and in the evening. It really seems to be fairly constant.''

Los Angeles animal control officials cannot estimate how many coyotes roam the neighborhoods, but Boswell keeps a map showing hot spots across the Valley.

Right now - those include neighborhoods of West Hills, the area near Orcutt Ranch in Chatsworth, and at the intersection of Balboa Boulevard and Plummer Avenue, he said.

``There's some areas you typically expect to have coyote problems, and they have their share - Encino, Woodland Hills, up in the hillside area,'' Boswell said.

But others - like the Balboa/Plummer area - show just how far the coyotes have come into the city.

``We have a lot of coyote incursions where they're following the cement stream channels into neighborhoods where residents aren't used to seeing them,'' Boswell said.

Prior to 1994, the city routinely trapped and destroyed coyotes, keeping the population down, but not eliminating the problem, officials said.

Earlier this year, the city approved a new policy that includes visits by animal control officers with residents who complain about an animal.

At a site, the officers will survey a property and advise residents to keep food and water out of reach, and their pets indoors. They'll tell residents how to bang cans and make other noises to scare the animal away. They'll make two visits before they trap and euthanize the animal.

Officials also are meeting with resident and community groups to more broadly offer information about deterring the animals.

``If you remove coyotes, nothing changes,'' Boswell said. ``Killing individual animals only fixes the problem for the moment. It doesn't fix the problem - which is the neighborhood problem. There's no sense having coyotes pay for what we're doing to them.''

Plans from earlier this year to have officers fire bean-bag rounds or paintball guns at the animals have been sidelined for now, although the new policy does call for unspecified deterrents that could be used if warranted. Those are still being debated, officials said.

``We're trying to avoid having to kill coyotes. If there is some way to physically reach out and touch these animals that doesn't cause permanent damage, some may get the message the human environment is not the place to be,'' Boswell said.

Encino resident Michael Bell wants the city to do more by establishing water troughs up in the hills to keep all sorts of animals from coming closer to homes in search of water.

``We have to learn to live with these animals,'' said Bell, with the Animal Legislative Action Network.

Burbank Animal Shelter interim superintendent Claudia Madrid said residents need to understand how close the animals are, and how to prevent attacks.

Though attacks on humans are rare, they are on the rise and residents still need to do their part to curb the coyotes' bold behavior.

``The biggest problem is the citizenry who can't quite figure it out,'' Madrid said. ``As long as there are kitties running loose on the hill, it's easier for the coyotes to grab a cat than a rabbit or something that's more elusive.''

SAFETY TIPS

To keep coyotes at bay, the city Department of Animal Services recommends:

--Cover trash cans and remove fallen fruit from yards.

--Clear brush and other vegetation.

--Deter animals with motion-sensor lights, sprinklers or noise-makers.

--Keep pets indoors during early morning and early evening hours, and at night.

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Photo:

Wildlife officer Troy Boswell explains to Velicata Street resident Eric Herz, left, and neighbors how to chase away coyotes.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

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SAFETY TIPS (see text)