A CLOSER LOOK -- When wildlife and suburbia clash

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- Gory tales of coyotes attacking pets are piling up in

the community.

Particularly hit by the problem are residents who live in the Back Bay

area where coyotes that inhabit the ecological reserve find several

points of entry leading into residential neighborhoods.

This year, several residents say, has been particularly problematic

and that the attacks have been more frequent and have happened in areas

where coyotes were not all that common over the years.

But contrary to popular opinion, both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach

officials say this year is no different from any other.

Newport Beach officials say it is a problem that has plagued most of

the city for years.

None of the city’s neighborhoods, except maybe West Newport, is immune

from these wild, yet increasingly urban beasts that prey mostly on small

domestic pets, according to Eric Metz, Newport Beach senior animal

control officer.

Costa Mesa resident Heidi Hansen recently lost her black cat, Bootsy,

to a coyote attack near her Mesa Verde North neighborhood.

Hansen said she was shocked, disturbed and upset when she found the

cat, which was named for her white boots, decapitated and skinned in Moon

Park about three days after she was missing.

Coyotes are a relatively new issue for her neighborhood, Hansen said.

“I have lived here for 36 years,” she said. “And we have never had

this problem.”

Not so, city officials say. According to Costa Mesa animal control

officials, coyotes have been regular visitors at Mesa Verde Country

Club’s golf course for several years.

Hansen says she is upset she was never informed about the coyotes, but

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford said animal control officers have

continually been handing out fliers in affected neighborhoods.

“We even have them at our front desk,” he said. “It’s a known fact we

have coyotes at the golf course all the time. They’ve also been seen

quite a few times near the [Santa Ana] River bed and Talbert Park.”

Holford said the city has shot coyotes in the past at the golf course

after getting permission from the state Department of Fish and Game.

“But I don’t think we’ve done it at least in the last couple of

years,” he said.

ALWAYS A PROBLEM

In and around Newport Beach, residents feel the coyotes are getting

more and more brazen and brutal in their attacks.

Barbara Demmocks, a Santa Ana Heights resident, said her baby emu was

killed by a coyote two weeks ago.

“We see the coyotes all the time,” she said. “Just over the last two

weeks, we’ve lost our emu, three chickens and two roosters.”

Demmocks said coyotes have always been a problem for pet owners in the

Back Bay.

“We know this is coyote territory,” she said. “But the last six months

have been worse than usual.”

Sightings and evidence are also very common and almost an everyday

occurrence, she said.

“We saw a coyote last night,” Demmocks said. “And there were rabbit

remains in our garden three days ago.”

But she added that she is not in favor of killing the animals.

“These coyotes are just being coyotes,” she said. “They’re doing what

comes naturally to them. Unless they overpopulate too much, I don’t think

killing them is such a good idea.”

JUST ANIMALS?

Also, another common denominator in most of the attacks reported this

year is the way in which the animals have been hunted.

At least two women who lost their cats talked about the heads being

cut off as if their pets were part of some Satanic ritual. But officials

were quick to discount that possibility.

Metz said that is how coyotes devour their prey, by feeding on the

organs and leaving the rest of the carcass behind.

According to officials in both cities, coyotes are found in all areas

of Orange County. They do not require wide open spaces to survive. For

generations, they have lived and survived very well in urban areas.

Though they are not tame animals, they are very comfortable living

physically close to human beings. They are not afraid and are often seen

trotting along a few feet of joggers, bikers and horseback riders.

They have been known to attack human beings on rare occasions and

those usually happen only when they are attacked or provoked. Recently, a

3-year-old Mission Viejo boy was attacked by a coyote in a public park.

Several animal control officials believe the best form of offense when

it comes to coyotes is defense.

Eradication or relocation of the urban coyote is not effective, they

say. Experts believe that these types of programs actually provide a sort

of vacuum in habitats and actually cause these animals to have larger

litters that ultimately increase their population.

Also, by trapping or killing the older coyotes, communities are left

with the young ones that are not skilled hunters and tend to attack

domestic pets. The older and wiser possess the skills to hunt animals in

the wild, such as rabbits and rodents.

LOOKING FOR FOOD

Local residents, however, continue to live in fear of losing their

pets.

Last week, an Irvine Avenue woman who lost her cat, put up fliers in

her block warning her neighbors about the attacks. In May, a Costa Mesa

neighbor did the same along Orange Avenue after her pet had become a

victim.

Joel Pasco, a local veterinarian and owner of All Creatures Care

Cottage in Costa Mesa, said he has heard more reports of coyote attacks

in the area this year than in any other -- probably the most in the last

20 years.

He attributes it to a dry summer that has left little food or water

for coyotes in the wild. So they come hunting in local neighborhoods, he

said.

“Yes, the Back Bay may be five or six blocks away from Costa Mesa

homes,” said Pasco, also the veterinary director at the Wetlands and

Wildlife Center in Huntington Beach.

“But that doesn’t mean your animals are safe. Coyotes can jump over

8-foot fences.”

They also get a drink from backyard swimming pools, he said.

Coyotes often attack their prey by biting off their heads to make sure

they’re not attacked in turn, Pasco said.

“These animals are opportunists,” he said. “They wait for the right

time and then attack.”

But the animals have been part of our landscape for a long, long time,

he added.

“They’ve been here even before we got here and they’re going to

continue to be here,” Pasco said. “It’s just something we have to accept

and learn to live with.”

FYI

CAUTION AGAINST COYOTES

* Fence off animal enclosures, fully if possible

* Keep cats and small dogs indoors or in close presence of an adult

* Feed pets indoors

* Store trash in covered heavy-duty containers

* Keep yards free from potential shelter such as thick brush and weeds

* Enclose the bottom of porches and decks

* Eliminate potential food and water sources such as fallen fruit and

standing water

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .