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Courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Department

Official: Coyote eradication unlikely

By John Rudolf
Monday, December 17, 2007 9:45 PM MST

The city's parks and recreation director has requested the City Council meet in January to discuss residents' concerns with an increasingly bold coyote population, but he said a large-scale removal or eradication effort is not likely to gain approval.

"My guess is that they'll want to go with education," said Bill Mulcahy, parks and recreation manager. "Relocation appears to be a non-workable solution to the problem, and there's not a lot of interest in killing the coyotes."

Complaints by residents about coyotes have increased recently, but that was not a sign that the local coyote population was on the rise, said Curtis Herbert, Arizona Game and Fish wildlife manager for the Lake Havasu region. "While the city population might not be up, coyotes in particular areas are becoming more of a problem," he said.

Herbert said he was not opposed to a program to target and remove a particularly troublesome population of coyotes. But an effort to rid the city of coyotes would fail, he said.

"There will always be coyotes. That will never change," he said. "So eradication's just not an answer. That's been proven time and time again." FOR FULL STORY, SEE TODAY'S NEWS-HERALD.

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Reader Comments

Arliss wrote on Dec 18, 2007 11:35 AM:

" I would be totally against killing them off too, it would only be a temporary measure because they will only repopulate once the rabbit population explodes again like it did in the past couple of years. Thank God for the coyotes taking care of the rabbit problem! Fences did not stop the rabbits from eating every plant in my yard, they even ate all my Aloe Vera! I'd rather have the coyotes over the rabbits any day. The only thing that needs to be done about the coyotes is tell people to stop being stupid with their pets, tell them to NEVER let their pets outside unattended. I've only been living here 5 years and I knew better from day one to not let my dog go out without me. Letting your pets go outside all by themselves is signing their death warrant! "

lou nage wrote on Dec 18, 2007 9:54 AM:

" I would think that a more approrpriate agenda item for the City Council would be addressing the route 95 accidents and restructing some of the entrance streets that are hotspots for accidents. After all this issue harms more people than coyotes. This City Council is an embarrassment if they take on such a trivial uninsidential issue and waste time. What will be next the Roadrunner population? City Council stop wasting our money!! "

Kelly wrote on Dec 18, 2007 6:25 AM:

" I remember when donkeys invaded our garbage nearly every morning. What a delight to see those creatures! While coyotes are a bit more troublesome and threatening, I object to killing them. They were here first and if we insist on expanding our city into their domains, we should have to face them and accept that we've taken over their domain. "

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