Coyotes are making themselves known in local neighborhoods, and
some residents say the animals have no fear of humans.
Brian Olson was strapping his grandchildren, 3 and 9 months,
into car seats on Dec. 12 when a coyote walked into the yard,
stopped and looked at Olson.
“He was looking at me disdainfully,” Olson said. “I’m not a very
big guy, but I clapped my hands, and yelled, and he just looked at
me and walked away.”
Olson said the animal is often in the neighborhood, and has been
seen a lot in the past few months.
The neighborhood is along the Spring Gulch open space, where
wildlife control has been a contentious issue.
A large prairie dog colony was removed from the area last
month.
Olson jokes that he wants a pellet gun from Santa.
“I have a friend with a sheep operation in Wyoming, and I go up
and work the ranch with him. When Tim sees a coyote, he stops the
truck and shoots it,” Olson said.
While shooting the animals is illegal in Highlands Ranch, Bill
Dailey, natural resources manager for Metro District, suggests
making the coyote as uncomfortable as possible without injuring the
animal.
“Coyotes need three things: water food and shelter, and if they
find any of those in your backyard they will keep coming back,”
Dailey said.
Trash cans, barbecue grills, and bird feeders can all attract
coyotes.
“They smell what you were cooking, and they want to see if there
is any left,” Dailey said.
Bird feeders attract mice, which the coyotes hunt.
Trash smells of the food placed in the bin, so storing trash
bins in the garage is better if curious coyotes are around.
Food and water left for pets will also attract the animals.
Discouraging the animals from staying can be as simple as making
loud noises or using a water pistol with ammonia water. The smell
is so strong that the coyote will leave.
If a person encounters a coyote on the trails, trying to look
bigger, throwing rocks or baseballs or even carrying a walking
stick can help frighten off the animals.
“We want to keep the coyotes wild so they are afraid of humans,”
Dailey said.
Dailey and the parks staff have seen the same half dozen reports
of coyotes in open space and in yards that they did last year.
Some of those calls are going to the Division of Wildlife,
Dailey said.
the coyotes in the Spring Gulch area are a pair that have lived
there for a couple years.
A presentation on living with coyotes is planned for late
February.
Anyone living on open space can call Dailey or Nick Adamson,
open space supervisor, for a review of their yard and potential
coyote attracting items.
Dailey can be reached at 720-240-5924, Adamson at
720-240-5917.