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Officials say coyotes pose no threat to humans Continued from page 6 7 · Friday, May 14, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com VanSpall's Nearby Heritage Glen Public School also brought their students inside when informed by St. Bernadette School that the departing coyote appeared to be heading in their direction. Mayes said this is the second time this year St. Bernadette School has brought their students inside because of a coyote sighting. On that occasion, they also phoned the Oakville and District Humane Society and the Ministry of Natural Resources and were told the coyote did not pose a threat to the children. Mayes is not so sure. "They say there's no need to worry, that if you are on a trail and you see a coyote you open an umbrella or make some noise and it will scare them away," said Mayes. "That's not good enough for us to have kids try to shoo away a coyote on a schoolyard because they are going to be intimidated by all those kids. If the kids see a coyote, they are going to start screaming and run for the hills and what is that going to do to the coyote? Just might aggravate it a bit." Mayes said the humane society should take more action when a coyote shows up at a school such as shooing it away themselves or trapping and relocating it. Hugh Coghill, manager of animal protective services for the Oakville and District Humane Society, said concerns about coyotes are unnecessary and intervention at the school on their part was not warranted. "We just don't interfere with wildlife, period. What would they want us to do? Chase it away? It's a wild animal. It is going to run away as soon as it sees a person close to it," he said. "If they called and said this coyote was now in the school and attacking children and running up and down the halls, it would have been a different story, but when people just see wildlife they should probably consider that something of a privilege that they can be in a built up urban area and still see wild animals around." Coghill said coyotes and wildlife in general were here first, they are a part of the environment and as such people need to learn to coexist with them. Coghill said there has been an unusual amount of hysteria surrounding the coyote in recent years following widespread media reports of a 2009 incident in Nova Scotia in which a young woman was killed by a pair of coyotes. Incidents like this, however, are exceptionally rare. "This doesn't mean we need to lock our doors and hide because the coyotes are out to get us all. I think we just need to realize that that is a one of a kind of incident," said Coghill. "If a coyote is around in a school yard, he is not going to want to be there when the kids all come out or when other people are around. The presence of an adult walking around in the schoolyard would probably send the coyote packing." Humane society officials have also described the trapping and relocating of a coyote as impractical. It is extremely difficult to trap a coyote and even if it is done provincial law only allows it to be taken one kilometer away, said Coghill. As coyotes are territorial, this means the relo- cated coyote will simply return home and if for some reason it does not another coyote will take the territory over. Even so Jen Semplonius, who lives only a few blocks away from St. Bernadette School, feels something needs to be done. Semplonius has been concerned about the escalating boldness of the areas coyotes ever since she and her golden Labrador retriever had a close encounter with one in Langtry Park back in October. "We were on our normal walk in the park. I went to take him off his leash, because no one was around, and I looked up and 10 feet in front of me was a coyote sitting on the path just staring at us," said Semplonius. "Luckily the dog wasn't off his leash, I don't know what would have happened if he was. I took a few steps back and the coyote took a few steps towards me." Semplonius yelled at the coyote, which made it freeze momentarily, but when she stopped it continued to follow her until she was clear of the park. "That kind of freaked me out," she said. "I do feel something needs to be done because I don't walk through the trails anymore. I've lived here for 10 years and I'd always walked my dog through the trails. I walk him only around the block now where there are houses where I could get help if I needed help quickly." Two days after Semplonius' ordeal, the Nova Scotia incident took place causing her to question the harmless label the experts she has spoken with apply to coyotes. "I guess my fear is what would happen if a kid met a coyote on a trail," said Semplonius. "Does somebody have to be injured or killed for them to realize that these coyotes are getting bolder and aren't afraid of people and are going to turn aggressive?" Ministry of Natural Resources Management Biologist John Pisapio said the coyote probably followed Semplonius because someone had been feeding it and it was looking for a handout, not because it intended her harm. In an email Pisapio said people can prevent coyotes from behaving this way by keeping garbage and pet food out of their reach and definitely not feeding them. Coghill also advises residents to look after their pets, as they would their children, because coyotes do see unattended cats and small dogs as a food source. Residents should also not be amazed if yelling at a coyote does not cause it to run away because the coyotes now residing in Oakville have grown used to the sounds of urban life. "I was driving along the 407 the other day and there was a coyote quite happily pouncing on a mouse just off to the side, totally oblivious to the fact that there were thousands of cars going by him at break neck speed and there he was happily looking for a mouse in this field for his lunch," said Coghill. The Ministry of Natural Resources will be holding a Coyote and Goose Public Education Session at the Terry Miller Recreational Centre, located at 1295 Williams Parkway in Brampton on Thursday, May 27. 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