Coyotes attack pets in Greenwood, nearby
Larry and Debbie Rademacher heard some snarling and were stunned when they looked outside their dining room window.
A coyote was ripping apart their neighbor’s small Pomeranian, Foxy, underneath a pine tree in the yard of their Greenwood home.
“It was the saddest thing I have ever seen in my entire life,” Debbie Rademacher said.
Larry ran outside, grabbed a flag pole and waved and shouted until the animal ran off, but it was too late to save the small dog in that December 2012 attack.
“Poor little Foxy,” Debbie said. “Foxy didn’t have a chance.”
The incident has made the couple more protective of their own little dog, Ginger, a 7-year-old Yorkshire terrier-Bichon Frise mix who never goes outside alone.
Greenwood residents started reporting a rash of coyote attacks in residential areas about this time last year. Police are warning pet owners to take precautions.
“This is the time of year when coyotes are most prevalent,” said Greenwood Police Chief John Laut. “We wanted to get some information out and hopefully save some pets.”
Greenwood police distributed coyote-warning posters to area veterinarians urging pet owners to go outside with their animals. They’ve also set up an online system to monitor coyote sightings and track the attacks.
Coyotes have been spotted in more than 100 locations throughout the city, according to Greenwood’s online map.
“The coyotes have been down there in the western part of Greenwood for years but I can tell you the attacks have gone all the way up to Banta (Road) in southern Marion County,” Laut said. “We’re not trying to alarm anybody, we’re just trying to inform everybody.”
The state does not count coyote sightings, reported coyote attacks or coyote kills by hunters and trappers, said Phil Bloom, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. But coyotes are native to Indiana, and sightings have become more common since the 1970s, according to the DNR.
Coyotes are a little smaller than a collie and have a grayish brown coat. They are often mistaken for wolves or huskies.
“They’ve been described as opportunistic,” Bloom said. “If we make it easy for them to find food, they are going to stick around until the food is gone.”
Hunters need a license to kill coyotes during the regulated hunting season, Bloom said, but people can legally kill coyotes year-round on private land. In Greenwood, however, property owners would have to use a trap so they don’t violate the city’s ban on discharging firearms.
There’s no telling how many coyotes live in Indiana or around Indianapolis, but DNR’s Shawn Rossler said coyote numbers have been increasing in recent years.
“They are really good at finding food and thriving,” said Rossler, the department’s furbearer management biologist. “Because of their ability to adapt, they are moving into urban environments.”
Coyotes eat plants and prey upon small animals, Rossler said. They have no remaining natural predators in Indiana.
The most extensive research on urban coyotes has been conducted in the Chicago area, where the coyote population is estimated at more than 2,000.
“What people don’t realize is they are usually interacting with coyotes on a daily basis, they just don’t know that the coyotes are there,” said Stanley Gehrt, the Ohio State University associate professor who is leading the Cook County (Ill.) Coyote Project.
Gehrt and a team of researchers have been studying Chicago-area coyotes since March 2000, capturing the animals and fitting them with GPS-tracking collars.
No matter where they live, Gehrt said, coyotes are genetically programmed to fear humans.
“Their natural inclination is to be very afraid of us, that’s based on over 200 years of persistent selection or persecution.”
People may knowingly or accidentally teach coyotes to lose that fear, Gehrt said, by feeding them.
Large bird feeders that drop food on the ground tend to attract squirrels and other rodents, which make a tasty meal for a coyote.
“Some of these bird feeders may have 12 to 15 squirrels feeding underneath it at any one time,” Gehrt said. “That’s a real hard thing for a coyote to ignore.”
Homeowners who leave out dog or cat food for strays also may be inviting coyotes, he said.
“Some coyotes, especially young coyotes, will start to become dependent on that food,” Gehrt said. “That helps habituate them, which is not what we want to do.”
Habituated coyotes, those that no longer fear humans, are bolder and more likely to attack pets. The only way to stop habituated animals, Gehrt said, is to kill them.
“Public education is a really important component,” he said. “We have to tell people you are actually going to be killing coyotes by feeding them.”
Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.
Avoid conflicts with coyotes
1. Do not feed coyotes.
2. Supervise children when outside.
3. Do not let pets run loose.
4. Do not run from a coyote.
5. Repellents or fencing may help.
6. Report aggressive, fearless coyotes immediately.