Who’s the problem: coyotes or humans?

Coyotes bring in packed house

By Amanda Becker

The South County Spotlight, Jun 20, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (41 Reader comments)

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St. Helens city council chambers were so crowded June 18th that people sat on the floor and were standing in the hall, eager to hear about Columbia County’s local neighbor, the coyote.

“As pet owners we have to abide by all pet laws, but apparently we are once again living in the dark ages of Europe, with wild dogs running around everywhere,” said a frustrated man in the crowd.

The real problem is fear, said local a local tracker and wilderness survival expert Kellan Scáth.

“People live in ignorant fear of what they do not understand,” said Scáth. “Coyote is our brother. He is more connected to Mother Earth than we are. Re-education is the first step to getting the public aware about the lack of threat that coyotes really present.”

An informal PowerPoint presentation talked about coyotes and their behavior patterns, why they come into cities and why they act the way they do toward both humans and animals.

Wildlife Services’ motto is: “Protecting people, protecting agriculture, protecting wildlife.” Is it really the people that need protecting in this case? Or the wildlife?

The Audubon Society, a wildlife activist group, states on its Web site that in Oregon the only documented “attack" on a human was a provoked situation in which a man was bitten while attempting to beat a cornered coyote to death with a 2-by-4.

The Web site continues that incidents that have occurred nationwide most often fall into the category of nips, bites and scratches rather than predatory attacks and almost always follow situations in which the coyote has been deliberately fed by humans and conditioned not to be afraid. In such cases, the coyote was only following habits that it was taught.

“Attacks upon humans by coyotes do not occur very often, but when they do, they are scandalized and dramatized by the media, making the problem seem worse than it really is,” said Kevin Christensen of Wildlife Services. “But also one area can be more likely than another for an attack to occur. It all depends upon specific coyote behavior within that area.”

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