Posted on 08/31/2007 11:14:42 AM PDT by yorkie
Wary customers at North Valley grocery stores keep a watchful eye after several shoppers were recently threatened by three brazen coyotes.
The animals were killed after they were trying to snatch white grocery bags from customers at a Fry's supermarket at Tatum Road and Cave Creek Road.
"Coyotes are very smart animals," said Kriselle Colvin with Arizona Game & Fish.
"Once they know where food source is, they know white bags have food in them, so they'll go up and grab them," Colvin said.
One of the biggest reasons for the problem is well-meaning people feeding them, Colvin said.
In the Biltmore area a few years ago, a woman was buying rotisserie chickens from the store and leaving them out for the coyotes.
Elsewhere, coyotes have made themselves at home in Kathy St. Hilaire's North Valley neighborhood.
"We see them walking up and down streets down subdivisions, in front of houses looking for food," she said.
Wildlife officers said they field complaints every week about people feeding wildlife all across the Valley and it's usually because they think the animals are hungry.
But if coyotes learn to expect food from people, it could make them dangerous to children and small pets, Colvin said.
"I don't even know if there's such a thing as a starving coyote," Colvin said.
"I mean, all these are very well fed and there are plenty of food sources. Golf courses have rabbits for them to eat."
It's against the law in Arizona to feed any wildlife with the exception of birds and tree squirrels.
Violators could fined $300.
Hmmmm. You have two members of Manchester, NH's AA minor league team in your back yard?
Now that's what I call playing deep.
LOL! They’re pretty fierce.
The male is actually rather large compared to the female. The female moves much like our ferret did.
Prolly mistook them for fluffy little white lap dogs.
>>Prolly mistook them for fluffy little white lap dogs.<<
LOL! Bad girl!
You know, there was recently an article in the Yuma papers about the rise in the coyote population. I just always assumed they meant the smugglers ;)
Solution: shoot all the people feeding the damn coyotes.
It’ll work, word will get around. ;)
You also better bring a damn shovel unless you want to get fined/be prosecuted for killing one of those coyotes.
>>You also better bring a damn shovel unless you want to get fined/be prosecuted for killing one of those coyotes.<<
You are right. A proper funeral/burial would be less expensive.
I hate to shoot them when they're little. I'd rather murder them when they're grown. LOL j/k As long as they don't bother me, I will leave them alone. When you live out in the country, you have to share it with wild life and lots of rattlesnakes. I always make sure there are no coyotes around when I come in with groceries. They have a keen sense of smell and could probably smell any kind of meat in my bags.
My daughter lives at Ft. Bragg...her cat got out she couldn’t find her. I told my daughter after a few days that she’d been killed. A soldier was running with his dog and found only a small part of her cat [her head and a little of her neck...he pulled her collar off and called by daughter]. She was eaten by coyotes....
When my son-in-law returns from his deployment...soldiers are going to put out bait for the coyotes sit in trees and kill ‘em all. I told them those coyotes need to be killed...the next time it could be a child.
>>I always make sure there are no coyotes around when I come in with groceries. They have a keen sense of smell and could probably smell any kind of meat in my bags.<<
The coyotes around this neck of the woods like cookies. (Especially Oreo’s)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.