Residents want action on coyotes; city creates online tracking system
By Brooklynn Wong
Buena Park made national news earlier this month when a coyote entered resident Scott Gooding’s home and killed one of his dogs, and severely injured another.
This stoked the fires of the already-impassioned outcry against coyotes.
An anonymous resident posted on the “Neighbors” app, imploring residents to go to Tuesday’s City Council meeting to speak out on the coyote issue during Oral Communications.
The City of Buena Park posted reminders on social media, telling residents the actions they can take to make their property unattractive to coyotes.
They then set up an online coyote tracking system (BuenaPark.com/coyotes), where residents can report sightings.
And on the day of the meeting, the same anonymous poster on “Neighbors” said the city had “stepped up and [is] doing their part to help solve our problem so I am canceling the call to show up” at the meeting.
Two residents did still show up to speak on the issue Tuesday night.
Both were residents of the Country Club/Bellehurst area. One, Sandra Davidson, said she had lost a dog to a coyote in her backyard. She said some cities have hired trappers to deal with their coyote problems, and that Buena Park “needs to do something.”
The other, Kitty Murphy, a 47-year Buena Park resident, said she has never seen the coyote problem be as prevalent as it has been the last two years.
Murphy said she now feels compelled to bring pepper spray, a cane and a whistle with her when she goes outside walking.
She said there are signs posted around her neighborhood warning people about the coyotes, and that it may begin to affect property values.
She said while she is an animal lover and feels badly for the coyotes, the problem has risen to “epidemic proportions.”
The concept of the “urban coyote” has crept into the vernacular all across Orange County, and city staffs have done what they can to help, but have been frequently unable to appease those residents who say coyotes are more prevalent than they ever have been, are only getting bolder, and their actions to deter them are not making a difference.
Wildlife experts say that coyotes have been here since before humans, that we can coexist peacefully with them, that they have a natural fear of people, and that they only encroach if people attract them.
Residents are warned to keep pets inside unless they accompany them, to not leave food or water outside, and to keep trash sealed.
Wildlife experts also say that trapping and relocating coyotes is not the quick fix it may sound like, as they, like other animals, have the innate ability to find their way back to the place they know, and in new surroundings, they become disoriented and do not often survive, since they are not familiar with where the food and water sources are.
City Manager Jim Vanderpool encouraged residents to utilize the online tracking system, which he said uses a “GIS heat map,” and said that the City Council is planning to further discuss coyotes at the August 13 Council meeting.
As of press time, there had been just over 20 coyote sightings reported on the city’s new tool, with the highest volumes of reported sightings occurring near the Los Coyotes Country Club at the north end of the city, near Boisseranc Park on the city’s east end, and near the corner of Valley View and Lincoln, near the Buena Park/Cypress border.
When filling out the sighting form, residents can include the date on which they saw the coyote(s), the time and location, and any other details they’d like to include. Residents have recorded incidents ranging from “German Shepherd owner walking dog in park came face to face with coyote,” to “coyote killed one cat,” to “found ‘pieces of pets’ presumably left by coyotes,” and the unfortunate incident earlier this month, in the 8400 block of Fox Hills, in which, “Coyote went through doggy door. It killed one dog and injured another.”
In that incident earlier this month, Mr. Gooding’s 10-year-old Maltipoo, Sally, was lost to the coyote, and his other dog sustained severe injuries that required surgery and amounted to a $2,200 vet bill.
According to ABC7, Buena Park residents intend to petition the city to hire trappers.
The Buena Park City Council’s August 13 meeting, where residents are invited to further voice their coyote concerns, will take place at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers (6650 Beach Blvd.).
