Suburbanites trained to cope with coyotes

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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says the coyote population in the Twin Cities has grown in the last decade. That means more sightings in suburban parks, streets and backyards, causing some worry among metro residents.

Bob Fashingbauer, a wildlife area manager in Dakota County for the DNR, said that as people move into former coyote habitats, the animals adapt.

"It's like a sanctuary to them. They're free of predators. They can't be hunted or trapped. So they kind of become the top predator in the food chain. The food supply is there," he said. "It's a great deal."

Coyotes hang out around garbage bins and pet food left outside — anything that attracts rodents, another food source. In other words, coyotes are getting used to living near people.

Roseville police Lt. Lorne Rosand said there has been an uptick in calls related to coyote sightings. Some residents are surprised by what officers do — or rather, don't do.

"At times, when we do show up, the expectation is 'You're going to shoot the coyote, right?'" Rosand said. "It's like, 'no we're not.' We will certainly respond if there is a threat. Coyotes (are not) something we're going to deal with specific to you wanting us to poison them, trap them, eradicate them from the neighborhood."

Coyotes have even been sighted at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

On Monday morning, as a plane was getting ready to take off, an air traffic controller had to ask the pilot to hold up because of a coyote.

John Ostrom, manager of airside operations for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, said they first tried to shoo the coyote away.

"It was actually running up and down one of the runways and crossing it multiple times. We ended up temporarily closing for a short period of time two runways to get it off of the runway and ended up basically shooting it."

Tim Hunter, an animal control officer with the Edina Police Department, said shooting, poisoning and removal doesn't always reduce a coyote population. Hunter said yelling, using noise makers and even spraying coyotes with a hose can keep them away from homes.

"When they don't have anything challenging them, they feel no need to hide their activities, they feel no need to back down to anything," he said. "That's where hazing comes in. If you address or approach a coyote very aggressively, you are, in their language, telling them you're higher on the food chain than they are. They're in your territory and they need to leave."

But some people, like Dennis Born of Roseville, don't mind coyotes.

Born was walking his dog a few years ago at Reservoir Woods Park in Roseville when a coyote appeared, and briefly followed them from a distance.

"The coyote came out, took a hard right and went into the woods, making noise all the time. And then it just left us," he said.

Born said he hasn't seen a coyote since then, but knows they're now a part of his city's wildlife.