RESIDENTS BECOME 'WILDLIFE-RESILIENT' AT COYOTE WORKSHOP

RESIDENTS PRACTISED ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOUR FOR COYOTE INTERACTIONS, LEARNED SAFETY METHODS

While the increase of coyote sightings in Niagara-on-the-Lake has been a frightful ordeal for some in the neighbourhood, a recent coyote safety demonstration held by wildlife experts gave those who participated an opportunity to confront the situation head-on.

A little over a dozen locals gathered in the backfield behind the Niagaraon-the-Lake Community Centre on Wednesday evening, May 11 to watch a presentation from Lesley Sampson, executive director of Coyote Watch Canada, who's been involved in the community since sightings went up starting April.

Sampson shared key details she and other experts have been reiterating for weeks about how to lessen the sightings of coyotes in Niagara-on-the-Lake — namely, to avoid feeding the animals — and what to do if you cross paths with a coyote.

"It doesn't matter to me if you love or hate coyotes," she told the group. "It doesn't matter to keeping everyone safe."

Lloyd Florence, a Gate Street resident, was at the demonstration: he witnessed the highly discussed incident on April 24 from his house, in which a coyote chased and tried to lunge at a woman and her dog while they were out walking.

"I'm of two minds: on the one hand, it's very frightening when you see what happened," he said. "On the other hand, (the coyote) is wildlife and it's beautiful."

Sampson and Kevin Strooband, executive director of the Lincoln County

Humane Society, demonstrated a variety of methods as part of aversion conditioning, or "humane hazing": the goal is for humans to assert themselves and their boundaries in residential areas, conditioning coyotes to leave them alone.

Sampson demonstrated how to yell in a firm, assertive voice for a coyote to leave, as opposed to screaming, indicating fear and panic. She also showed them how to use an umbrella to ward them off (by opening and closing it in the coyote's direction), and a technique called "the garbage bag method."

The method involves taking a garbage bag with you when venturing outdoors, and when faced with a coyote, quickly flicking the open bag to fill it with air, causing it to make a loud sound that scares coyotes off. It's important, she added, to have the bag already peeled open before an encounter.

A majority of the residents who've had run-ins with coyotes this spring were out walking their dogs. While some are worried about coyotes harming their pets, coyotes, Sampson said, consider dogs the threat: they're competing for food and can be seen as a threat to the coyote's family.

Florence himself has a large dog — which accompanied him to the demonstration — and said he found Sampson's presentation helpful, particularly the instructions about standing tall, using a firm voice and the bag method.

"Part of the problem is when it happens, you freeze and can only go with what you think is the right thing to do," he said. "We got some very specific instructions, which I think were very helpful."

Sampson

noted

the sightings of coyotes have gone down in recent weeks. Bylaw enforcement officers have been putting lids on public garbage cans, which coyotes see as a food source, and educating people about not feeding coyotes, to keep them from coming back.

She said she enjoyed being able to work with the community during the demonstration to help them take on the issue.

"When you see folks leaving and feeling empowered, that, for me, is wonderful," she said. "We're creating wildlife-resilient communities."