Coyote attack has Oromocto on alert

The Town of Oromocto, N.B., is considering its next moves after another coyote attack on the weekend.

Department of Natural Resources officials were called in when west-end residents saw the coyote feeding on a deer in their yard Saturday morning.

They drove the animal away from the neighbourhood into nearby woods where they shot and killed it.

The coyote that was shot is likely the one that attacked dogs in the Oromocto area last month, said Joe Kennedy, a DNR furbearer biologist.

"With this individual animal removed, we hope that there's going to be fewer coyote reports in that area," said Kennedy.

"We think that this is the same individual that people had been seeing in the past. We think that this individual coyote had reduced fear of humans, became more habituated to living near urban situations."

He said the coyote average-size male at roughly 40 pounds. It wasn't starving. Although it didn't appear diseased, it will be tested for rabies.

Mayor Faye Tidd issued a warning to citizens about coyotes three weeks ago, after two dogs were attacked.

"It makes me just sick because that could have just as easily been a child," said Tidd.

She said she hopes there won't be another attack.

"We haven’t wanted to use firearms in the town, of course, but it may be that that's something that we're going to have to consider, being available, whether there's any way we can tranquilize an animal," said Tidd.

"We did talk about that at one point and everybody agreed that would be almost impossible. It would be too late to get any tranquilizer into the animal before it had done some harm."

The town hired a trapper, but Tidd says he's had trouble tracking because there's little snow on the ground.

Kelly Andresen's husband took a video of the coyote on the weekend

"We have small children, a small dog. It's a little nerve-wracking. I'm not sure if there's more out there, if we're safe to go out and play in the yard with the kids. The dog I usually just let out on a leash, watching him to make sure he's safe," said Andresen.

Kennedy said New Brunswick's coyote population appears to be stable at between 10,000 to 15,000 animals. But he said diseases such as mange and distemper appear to be spreading, which could be a natural control measure for high population numbers.
Source:Yahoo