INCREASED COYOTE SIGHTINGS PROMPT CALL FOR CITY ACTION.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

An unprecedented number of coyote reports this season has heightened debate over the city trapping ban, and homeowners in a Woodland Hills neighborhood pleaded Friday for city action.

They hosted a meeting earlier this week called ``Do the Coyotes Pay Your Taxes?'' and talked half-jokingly about taking matters into their own hands.

``One of my friends gave me a BB gun,'' said Joyce Hart, shooting at a coffee can to demonstrate her marksmanship. ``I've become an Annie Oakley. I want the animals trapped.''

Neighbor Corinne Marsoubian said she was in her back yard this week with her 3-year-old boy playing nearby when she saw a coyote.

``I saw this coyote stop outside my fence and just look down at my child,'' she said. ``I said to myself, Oh, my God, and went and got my son indoors.''

The West Valley Animal Shelter has asked city animal authorities for permission to trap the animals in that neighborhood. The Los Angeles City Council banned trapping coyotes in 1993, except in extraordinary cases.

However, the director of the Animal Services Department said trapping is not effective because for every coyote removed, younger ones take its place.

``Coyotes are very difficult to remove,'' said Dan Knapp, general manager of Los Angeles City Animal Services Department.

``They are very smart. They can dig under and climb over walls. They have become urban creatures and have come down into our habitat because we have a food source. That food source is predominantly cats.''

Knapp said that rather than trapping, people should ``coyote-proof'' their homes.

``It's surprising how much the problem improves after we educate people,'' Knapp said.

Pamelyn Vlasak, a spokeswoman for the Santa Monica-based Animal Defense League, said the group opposes the ``reprehensible practice of coyote trapping.''

She suggests people use guard dogs to scare away coyotes.

``Coyotes were here long before we were, and we've got to start living in harmony with these animals and not slaughter them,'' she said.

``They don't want to harm us. Their territory was overtaken and their food supply is dwindling. They are very shy animals and don't like being around humans.''

In western areas of Woodland Hills, residents said education, coyote-proofing and guard dogs are not good enough. They intend to write letters to the Animal Services Commission to urge them to lift the ban on trapping.

``I'm afraid this is something like a traffic signal,'' said resident Domenic Romeo. ``Your neighborhood doesn't get one until a child is killed.''

Although no attacks on people were reported this year, coyotes have attacked people in the past.

In 1979, a coyote attempted to drag a baby out of a yard in Agoura Hills; in 1981, a coyote killed a girl in her Glendale yard; and a coyote attacked a toddler in Griffith Park in 1995.

West Woodland Hills residents said coyotes have killed several dogs and cats in recent weeks.

``People with small animals and children are very concerned,'' said resident Don Pitts, adding a coyote attacked his dog about a year ago. ``It's really a problem here.''

Councilwoman Laura Chick said she agrees the City Council must reconsider the trapping ban, but she also recognizes the complexity of the issue.

``I'm not satisfied with what the city has done so far,'' Chick said. ``I feel strongly that the Animal Services Department needs to change (its) policy to include focused, humane trapping on an as-needed basis, to address the problem when it increases to the point of causing fear in our neighborhoods.''

Chick wrote a letter to the Animal Services Commission, saying her office had received an ``increasing number of calls regarding coyotes.''

Knapp said a majority of the City Council agrees with Chick that the commission should reconsider the ban on trapping.

The seasonal debate over coyote trapping is more urgent this year, because the number of sightings is reaching record levels.

West Valley animal shelter Lt. Richard Felosky said his office has fielded ``nothing but coyote'' calls in recent weeks and the problem is the worst in recent memory.

Wildlife officials say the coyote population nationwide is at an all-time high. In California, the surging coyote population has reduced the state's number of sheep from 200,000 a decade ago to 15,000 today, Knapp said.

``I can hear them howling at night,'' said Woodland Hills resident E. Diamond, who attended the meeting Thursday night. ``I'd like to get another kitten, but they took my last one. There are very few cats left in our neighborhood. The only cat still around I know of is named ``Lucky.''

COYOTE FACTS

Coyotes weigh 20 to 30 pounds, stand 23 to 26 inches at the shoulder and look similar to a tan-color, shepherd-type dog with a long, pointed muzzle, large ears and long legs.

Coyotes use the flood control channels, freeways, hillside erosion gutters, city streets and sidewalks as convenient methods of travel.

Coyotes find an abundant source of water from swimming pools, gutters, leaking hose faucets, sprinkler heads, bird baths and pet water dishes.

They learn that pets and other domestic animals are easier to catch than wild prey and will prowl neighborhoods in search of unattended domestic animals. Coyotes are capable of scaling fences up to 6 feet high and will dig under fences.

COYOTE TIPS

The city recommends people keep cats and dogs indoors at night or any other time coyotes are known to be in the area, walk dogs on a leash, keep trash lids secured and pick backyard fruit as soon as it ripens.

City officials recommend people not feed wild animals, leave pet food outside, allow pets to roam or leave water in birdbaths.

CAPTION(S):

2 Boxes

Box: (1) COYOTE FACTS (See text)

(2) COYOTE TIPS (See text)