I live near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mts, and there are many wild animals, and it is unlawful to discharge firearms inside the city limits, but humans are no match for wild animals such as coyotes.
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latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ny-coyotes-20100720,0,5667256.story

latimes.com
Coyote attacks alarm New York suburb
Injuries to two girls in Rye have police and residents on alert – and some wondering why the town let it get this far.

By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times

July 20, 2010

Reporting from Rye, N.Y.

The attacker pounced from behind a large rock as 3-year-old Erika Attar played outside her home. "Mommy!" shrieked a playmate as the girl struggled to break free. Erika's father dashed across the yard, and the startled predator vanished into the dusk.

It was the sort of crime associated with an urban jungle, not a tranquil suburb. But it was one of two such attacks in four days, and the descriptions of the suspects were identical: brownish-black hair, pronounced nose, amber eyes and long, skinny legs — all four of them.

Police issued an alert to warn locals of what had become frighteningly clear: Rye has coyotes, and the ones prowling the leafy town have engaged in some un-coyote-like behavior, such as ambushing children in residential neighborhoods. On June 29, the Tuesday after the first attack, two coyotes dashed across a sidewalk and leapt on Emily Hodulik, 6, as she played outside her home.

"This is an extraordinary situation we're dealing with," the police commissioner, William Connors, told a town meeting. "There will always be a crisis … but this is certainly the most unusual one I've encountered in 30 years in this business."

Both girls survived with cuts and scratches, but the meeting underscored the fears of locals and the concerns of wildlife experts. Just as people in the seaside town in "Jaws" wondered when it would be safe to go back into the water, Rye residents wonder when it will be safe to go back outside.

"We don't know what the future is going to hold," Kevin Clarke, a wildlife biologist from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, said as he fielded questions at the meeting. Will sprinkling wolf urine on the ground deter coyotes? Maybe. Are coyotes paddling across the Long Island Sound from Connecticut? Doubtful. When will this be over? Nobody knows."

Wildlife is no stranger to New York City, about 30 miles south of Rye, or to its suburbs. Black bears, white-tailed deer and coyotes have lived near residential areas for decades, but encounters with their human neighbors usually are accidental. That seems to be changing, at least for coyotes, who have popped up everywhere from Manhattan's cafe-lined streets to Columbia University to the golf courses, cemetery and main drag of downtown Rye. Dogs, cats and now children have been targets.

"What happened … is really nothing short of a nightmare," said Stephen Hodulik, the father of Emily, who endured rabies shots and whose injuries might have been far more severe had her mother not been nearby.

The town's response has been a campaign that includes shoot-to-kill orders if police encounter coyotes. That has left many wildlife experts and some locals uneasy given that human habits — littering, letting cats and small dogs wander outside, leaving pet food in the backyard — are blamed for presenting irresistible lures to coyotes.

"I think it's a good sign that we have these animals because it shows we're doing a better job of protecting habitat for wildlife in urban areas," said Patrick Thomas of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Coyotes such as the one that dodged police in March for 24 hours before being captured in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood are using grassy highway medians and expanding parkland to wander into the city, Thomas said.

"If you're going to have green spaces and woodlands, you're going to be sharing that space with wildlife," he said.

But Thomas sympathizes with Rye and conceded that when coyotes behave abnormally, human safety must take precedence.

At All Paws, a pet store in downtown Rye, shop owner Claudia Baker said if attention had been paid earlier to the coyotes, police wouldn't have to patrol the streets at night ready to shoot them.

"What makes me sad is that for months, people's dogs and cats have been attacked by coyotes, but it took an attack on a child to make anyone pay attention," she said as her black lab, Murphy, lounged on the shop floor. "That sounds callous, but our dogs are our children. It didn't have to get to this point."

Simply tranquilizing the animals and releasing them elsewhere won't fix the problem because the coyotes prowling Rye clearly have lost their shyness around humans, city officials say.

In addition to the shoot-to-kill orders, the campaign includes measures that sound more suitable to a counter-insurgency campaign than an animal infestation. Helicopters equipped with infrared heat-seeking devices have been called in for aerial surveillance to assist ground forces pursuing coyotes; traps have been set in wooded areas; a special coyote-focused police unit has been established.

Summer day camps have received special attention. Counselors are urged to carry air horns to blast at approaching coyotes. The police commissioner, whose daughter is a camp counselor, said children had been instructed "that if a dog, say other than a white fluffy poodle, appears," they should alert an adult.

But no coyotes have been shot, evidence of their elusive nature and of the risks of waging urban warfare in a populated suburb.

Shortly after Erika was jumped, police spotted a coyote in the cemetery but couldn't open fire because of nearby traffic. The night after Emily was attacked, officers saw a coyote trotting through a golf course, a woodchuck in its mouth.

As the police car drove parallel to the animal, the coyote occasionally stopped and glanced at its pursuers, holding tight to its furry prey. When the car stopped and an officer aimed his gun at the coyote, Connors said, it dropped the woodchuck and "took off like a shot."

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Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

cliff notes:

coyotes grab after 2 different toddlers.   Environmentalist says "good - it means the animals are happy and thriving!"


Let us Ignore predetory kill-off of pre-existing food chain because "thinning the herd" is grotesque, uncivilized MURDER!   Instead, we shall cruise to Starbucks in our hybrids and jam to some Indie while basking in the glow of our success!!!

Timber, Red, Black wolves are the only natural predator to the coyote east of the Mississippi, and the occasional Catamount or Panther.
wolves and big cats hate and or fear people and move on when encroached upon
wolves and big cats bring out a prehistory genetic memory in us and we fear them, we shoot, trap, poison etc...


Coyote are a smaller cousin, the Desert Wolf, and fears its larger eastern cousins
Coyote rarely made it across the Mississippi, those that did, were wolf food eventually
we build bridges to cross the Mississippi and the Western Coyote heads east,
the coyote has gotten over its fear of man, though I dont think they ever had one, "Native" People all have legends of the Coyote, the Trickster and I think it was never fearful of man and at times survived off early mans leavings, as they do today, this may well have included eating small dogs, small children, small women etc..

so, tell those nice folks in Rye NY it's our own fault, and watch their asses,,,Nature wins out in the end, as it does always and for ever....

CHEF

Sales of swiffers triple overnight.

Natural selection will take it's course with the metro types who move too far out of their natural environment.

They are Varmints, but one must admire thier resourcefulness.

After the ball drops it will be Coyotes eating the cockroaches.

this

So does my male GSD.  He's taken out two so far.

Yup, state law

not sure if serious.

Man conquered nature quite some time ago. Everything that walks this earth fears man, or will learn to real f'n quick.

If guns are outlawed, only coyotes will have guns.

Not sure I buy the red part, but the hippie types just love releasing stuff into the wild in their attempt to "restore" things. I know it's happened with coyotes in Pa.   I haven't seen any around my place, but if I do I'll post pics of the carcass.

See what happens when dooshbag, liberal, bedwetters take over?

My city says you can't dicharge a firearm within city limits, but if a 'yote is in my yard trying to harm my dogs or kid(when I have them), I will shoot it.

In a lot of these 'burbs they will prosecute you for discharging a firearms within the city limits. A rabid wild animal is no match for a human, I would shoot it also. Also many of them travel in packs, and.... But it is best to avoid confrontation by keep your children & pets away from these critters.

I LOL'ed too.

But between that post, and the Gov. of TX, .380ACP is becoming the Coyote caliber du jour.

Plenty of fox up here, but not too many coyotes floating around the fields.

yes there actually is

Good dogs, but I'd fence my yard.   A large enough pack will punch his ticket.

grow some balls you fucking pussies and defend your family and home.

and that is why the constantly have trucks running thru Vegas sweeping sand off the streets and metal coffins to take the bugs out...nature wins in the end...

I have seen coyote at Griffith Park at 8 am in traffic (LA)

A coyote came up in the backyard, snatched the new kitten, and scampered off.  My brother nearly took the sliding door off the hinges as he ran after the coyote.  I yelled "where are you going?"  When he realized that he was unarmed, he stopped abruptly.  Wild dog packs are also a threat.  You don't want to go walking in the Santa Monica Mountains without defensive tools.

I see what you did there!

Pepper spray is illegal in NY. As are most things used in self defense.