A wildlife expert told people at a Wednesday discussion at the Chappaqua Library that hazing coyotes is an effective approach, reaffirming advice that was given at a previous talk in late May.
Lynsey White Dasher, who is a director for human wildlife conflict resolution at the Human Society of the United States, has done several talks around the country. She came to Chappaqua for the Town of New Castle's second discussion, which comes more than a month after police sent out a coyote warning that noted an attack on a dog and canine who went missing.
New Castle Police Lt. Daniel Cannon said that the talk was organized by police Chief Charles Ferry as “a community-based solution to a community problem.”
In her presentation, Dasher explained to a crowd of about 50 that hazing involves things such as making noise, waving arms, charging at a coyotes or using noisy objects. Examples include using a whistle, an air horn or a sippy cup with coins in it. Garden hoses and water guns can also be used.
“Everyone in this room can haze a coyote and everyone in this room should haze a coyote,” she said. There are some exceptions: when a coyote is backed into a corner, with pups or is injured. In that case, the solution is for people to make themselves look bigger - coyotes are mostly just about 25-30 pounds - keep eye contact and slowly back away.
By doing hazing, Dasher explained, people an instill fear into coyotes, who are not naturally aggressive towards people and who rarely bit humans.
“We're marking our territory in a way that they understand," she said, noting that coyotes will get the word out to others in the species to stay away from places of hazing because they are seen as unsafe.
Hazing only needs to be done 2-3 times to a coyote for it, or it and its group, to get the message, she explained. Additionally, people can't just stop hazing after they have briefly done it, but rather it must be enough for the coyote to flee instead of just pausing. Hazing is also not effective if done from inside, with a car horn - coyotes are accustomed to vehicle noises - or without them seeing the person.
Dasher also dismissed the notion that approaches including relocation or mass killings can be effective. If coyotes are relocated, they will try to return to their old area, she explained, and also risk confrontation with other coyotes in their new environment. In the case of killings, populations quickly rebound, with examples including more breeding if a group's sole breeding female dies, or in the smaller population having more resources available, which helps pups.
One alternative that Dasher did not dismiss out of hand is targeted removal of coyotes that pose problems, although she noted it is not easy to identify a specific problem coyote and can be costly if using a skilled trapper.
The problem that people face now with coyotes is that they have become habituated she explained. This means that they feel encroachment for things like food is okay because their perception is that there are no consequences. Once this perception takes hold among one coyote in its experience, then it can pass along the information to others in its group. Examples of giving coyotes an unintended message of safety include moving acting aggressive during an encounter or having food out.
“We didn't realize we were doing it, we didn't mean to do it, but unfortunately that's what happened," she said, also noting that most coyote attacks on humans, which are rare, happened with habituated coyotes.
Dasher also described the threat of coyotes to pets. In the case of small dogs and cats, they may get confused with prey. In the case of larger dogs, coyotes may see them as threats to mates or to pups. The distrust of dogs, who like coyotes are canids, was repeatedly noted at New Castle's first talk, with featured New York State Department of Environmental Conservation employee Kevin Clarke and Frank Vicenti of the group Save Wild Dogs.
Dasher told the audience about several ways to protect dogs and cats. They include keeping them on leashes and supervising them, get physically between coyotes and pets and do not let dogs play with coyotes. In the case of cats, Dasher expressed a preference for keeping them inside, but said that if they are brought outside, then they could be on leashes, or use special structures like a "catio." Dasher also said that pet food should not be left outside once feeding is done. Additionally, Dasher suggesting have less brush growth, which deprives coyotes of cover before attacking and to have fences that are at least six feet high and with special rollers on top to prevent the animals from gaining traction.
Coyotes are technically not carnivores, Dasher explained, but opportunistic omnivores. Their diet can include rodents and fruit, for example. They also tend to operate in three seasons: a mating season that runs from December to March, a pup-rearing season from April to August, and a dispersal season where old yearlings leave their groups. They can also adapt to their surroundings; Dasher noted a Chicago study where they were found to be in the city's downtown.
Dasher also warned people never to feed coyotes, and to get others involved in hazing.
After Dasher's presentation, several people in the audience asked questions. They included encounters with rabid coyotes (she responded that this is rare), and whether hazing can be done when a person faces a group (she replied that it can).
The mood at Wednesday's talk was less tense than at the May gathering, which came shortly after the police released the warnings. There were also far fewer media covering the second one, in contrast to the first when several regional broadcasters attended along with local news outlets. In addition, only a fraction of the attendees for the Wednesday talk also went to the previous one, based on a show of hands given to a question that Dasher asked.
"I think people got better educated,” said New Castle Town Administrator Penny Paderewski after she was asked for a reaction regarding the differences between the talks. Paderewski added that the town has gotten a lot of information out about the topic, and also felt that the passage of time was a factor.
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