The war on California's urban coyotes

Dealing with the coyotes is a major sore point between environmentalists and homeowners. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Los Angeles Times] [Essential California Newsletter] September 20, 2022 [View in browser]( [Click to view images]( coyote catches a small rodent at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa last year. (Raul Roa / Times Community News) Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California [newsletter](. It’s Tuesday, Sept. 20. I’m Laura J. Nelson, a staff writer in the California section. After many years walking the same route at the Silver Lake Reservoir, I know every dog in every yard, every crack in the sidewalk, every quiet intersection where I can stop and admire the view. If I’m walking after dark, I know to watch out for the spiders spinning their webs across the low-hanging trees, and for the coyotes that roam at dusk. You hear the pack before you see it, the familiar yip-yip-yips echoing across the water and bouncing off the concrete basins. Some nights, the howling is so loud and sustained that people stop to take videos. That kind of pack activity happened less often a few years ago. Recently, I’ve been hearing it far more. How best to deal with the coyotes that have spread across Southern California is a major sore point between environmentalists and homeowners, writes my colleague Louis Sahagún. In a piece that takes us [inside the escalating war over coyotes]( Louis explains how a growing number of “coyote horror stories” have exposed deep disagreements between groups that want humans to peacefully coexist with the animals and people who want more of them to be killed. At least 69 people have been bitten by coyotes in Los Angeles County over a decade, 20% of them at Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium, according to county records. One child was bitten while carrying a small dog, which the coyote grabbed when the child dropped it. Torrance is one of the few cities in Southern California that has committed to year-round trapping, killing about one coyote a week by lethal injection. The councilman who has championed the program said with a grin that “experts agree that a dead coyote is 100% less likely to reproduce.” But it’s not clear how well an all-out war on coyotes would work. The animals are famously tenacious and adaptable, including [with their diets](. In the stomachs of coyotes that have died in Los Angeles and Orange counties, researchers have found cottontail rabbits, birds, potato bugs, avocados, oranges, peaches, watermelon — and the occasional dog and cat. One Manhattan Beach resident watched her cat, Milkshake, be devoured by a coyote at 3:46 a.m. on her home security footage, the third cat the family lost in two months. Even extreme wealth isn’t a guarantee that pets will be kept safe: Jessica Simpson, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Ozzy Osbourne and Halle Berry have all had dogs killed by coyotes. [Read the story: “[Inside the escalating war on Southern California’s urban coyotes]( And now, here’s what’s happening across California: Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing. ADVERTISEMENT L.A. 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