Louisiana Coyotes Snatch Area Pets

As his dog Baily dashed across the street one recent evening, Aaron Moreau of Louisiana flicked on his flashlight just in time to see the small terrier struggling in the jaws of what appeared to be a tall, lanky dog. Frightened by the flash of light, the intruder bolted toward a stand of cane that separates Moreau's Rigolets Estates neighborhood from Louisiana 433 southeast of Slidell. After momentarily and unsuccessfully trying to pull it through the weeds, the attacker dropped the small dog and ran off.

The attack was not an isolated incident, nor was it a matter of an overly aggressive neighborhood dog going after a weaker plaything. Coyotes have come to subdivisions of southeastern St. Tammany Parish (Louisiana).

Baily is recovering from deep bites to its back, and Moreau now walks his dogs with a gun on his hip. Other residents are taking their own precautions, or taking aggressive steps to eradicate the coyotes, as the animals have become more numerous and more bold. "I saw them walking Highway 90 a couple of times, " said Moreau, who also has lost two cats to the invading varmints. "I've heard a pack of pups, too." And Moreau and other residents said they've become increasingly frustrated as they have found there is little they can do about the wild packs.

Rigolets Estates and the nearby subdivision of Treasure Isle are tucked into the southeastern corner of St. Tammany Parish, a normally quiet refuge of large houses whose well-manicured lawns back up to fishing piers on Lake Pontchartrain or boat docks along canals that provide quick access to the lake. Outside the subdivisions, wild marshes dominate the landscape.

Though the area is filled with wildlife, residents first saw coyotes early this year, said Don Ducote, a resident of Treasure Isle. Initially residents didn't see the coyotes as a major problem. In fact, by ridding local canals of nutria, they seemed to be performing a sort of service. But as the nutria population dropped, residents began noticing that other wild animals such as ducks were becoming scarce. And then pets started to go missing.

The prevalence of the animals has inspired fear among residents, and not just for their animals. Ducote, whose two cats Minky and Pookie went missing earlier this year, said his wife is now afraid to walk through the neighborhood at night. About a dozen pets, mostly cats, have disappeared in the two subdivisions since the winter. While residents said it's possible not all the missing pets are the work of coyotes, they point to regular sightings of the animals and the evidence of their meals, including eviscerated cat carcasses, as signs that coyotes bear the brunt of the blame.

The bulk of the coyotes seem to be coming from a marshy area north of the subdivisions that is still filled with barren trees and withered weeds from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA carved a path through the swamp after the storm to get to debris and appliances that had washed out from Rigolets Estates. On that path one night last week, Treasure Isle Homeowners Association President Lee Nugent and Moreau looked over a set of fresh coyote tracks, distinguishable from those of dogs by their compact, oblong shape. Though the area was quiet and virtually lifeless as they conducted their sunset walk, the tracks, as well as those of wild hogs, showed the dirt trail has become a highway for the animals.

Coyotes first came to the area in the 1970s after migrating east out of Texas, said Jimmy Stafford, region manager for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' East Gulf Coastal Plain region and a biologist. "The occasional sighting of a coyote in my opinion is not a bad thing, " said Stafford, who lives in Washington Parish and works in St. Tammany Parish and Baton Rouge. "I've got coyotes around my house and bobcats and all kinds of neat critters and it's good to see them out there. It means you have a healthy ecosystem."

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has not done studies to determine how many coyotes there are in St. Tammany Parish for years, but Stafford said anecdotal evidence suggests a relatively large population lives on the north shore. The animals are routinely spotted by hunters and residents and frequently turn up as roadkill along Interstate 12, though many motorists probably mistake the carcasses for those of dogs, he said.

Louisiana state law does allow hunters to shoot coyotes, but St. Tammany Parish also prohibits residents from firing weapons within 1,000 feet of a subdivision, creating a problem for those dealing with the animals in their neighborhoods.

Source: nola.com