The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Hazing seems to have made Blondie wary of humans continued from p.1 All this intentional feeding resulted in Blondie losing its fear of people, vehicles and loud noises, said Doyle. The situation became serious on Jan. 12 when a coyote, presumably Blondie, approached a female student and growled after the student walked past an area where other students were known to regularly feed the coyote. During the coyote information meeting, Mackasey made it clear additional aggressive incidents like this could lead to the coyote being considered a danger to the public and destroyed. That message seems to have reached the right people as the feeding of the coyote appears to have stopped and with it, the coyote's aggressive behavior. "We have not seen or heard of any abnormal behaviour for about a month," said Mackasey. "We know he or she is still around, but he or she appears to be behaving in a more appropriate manner." Mackasey noted, for some time, the humane society, and sometimes Halton police, "hazed the coyote" with officers chasing the animal when it showed up at the high school. Efforts were made to capture and trap the animal so it could be rehabilitated, but all attempts ended in failure. cational material going out into the larger community, which, in turn, appears to have decreased the intentional and unintentional feeding that was taking place. She said the message the coyote may have to be destroyed because people had been treating it like some kind of pet, really had an impact on those present at the coyote information meeting. "There is a growing understanding that a habituated coyote is of our own creation, through our own behaviours," said Toth. "The messaging was very clear, and I know this would have gone out to the teachers and the students, that there should be no positive interactions with coyotes. They are wild animals and we want to keep them afraid of us, so they will be respectful and keep their distance." Toth said the Town is still getting reports of sightings of the OT coyote, but far fewer than before and from a distance, with the animal no longer approaching humans. She called on residents to keep this coyote's future bright and continue to refrain from feeding and interacting with it. For more information on reducing conflict with coyotes, visit www.oakville.ca. With the approach of spring, residents are being reminded to avoid conflicts with coyotes by staying away from coyote pups, which will soon be arriving. 7 | Thursday, March 10, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com A coyote with mange, a disease that affects the local coyote population is pictured. | Oakville Beaver file photo Mackasey said the hazing might have had a role in teaching the animal to once again fear humans. The Town's Environmental Policy Director Cindy Toth said in the wake of the coyote information meeting, public education work was also done in southeast Oakville schools, which could have helped the situation. "We had a follow-up meeting with the school board representatives from OTHS, as well as the adjacent elementary schools and there were a series of actions everyone agreed to take, including followup with teachers and students in terms of more detailed education as to what the issues were, particularly around leaving food and having food available for the coyote," said Toth. "What we have seen, we feel, has been a large decrease in sightings of Blondie." Toth also attributed this change to edu- March Special Tender pieces of marinated pork, Served over rice, with Greek salad, garlic bread And Tzatziki pork souvlaki dinner $13.99 Visit our new location today! 2420 Lakeshore rd., W., Oakville Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner Great Family DininG For over 40 years! 905-827-4851 Mon. - Sat. 8am - 9pm Sun. 8am - 3pm Our DIAMOND DIAMOND Voted Best Accountant by Oakville Beaver Readers for 9 Consecutive Years CPA, CA, MBA, B. Eng Ricky Wong W For more information please check our website www.rickywong.ca · Accounting · Auditing · Taxation difference designers makethe 490 SPEERS ROAD, OAKVILLE KDESIGNCABINETRY.COM 905.339.2223 1200 Speers Rd., Unit 32, Oakville, Ont. L6L 2X4 (905) 845 - 1408 | Fax (905) 845 - 5931