Coyotes Trouble North Diamond Bar

Traps are out in North Diamond Bar after residents reported an increasing number of coyote sightings and attacks this summer.

City Manager Jim DeStefano said during a July 19 City Council meeting that the late summer is when many coyotes are born and when food and water becomes more scarce in the wild, causing the animals to enter residential areas to seek food.

DeStefano added that the animals can be especially dangerous because of their ability to jump high fences and get into residents' backyards.

Patch reader  said one coyote even  in early July.

DeStefano said the County Department of Agriculture has set out two traps around the North Diamond Bar neighborhood where residents spotted the animals.

Ken Pellman, spokesman for the county agricultural district, said that problems reported in residential areas are most often caused by one coyote who has claimed the turf.

"If you have multiple people from the same specific area saying there's an aggressive coyote, it's probably the same coyote because they are territorial," Pellman said.

One report, around July 13, identified coyotes sighting in the neighborhood around 1100 Clouds Rest Drive. Resident Pamela Bates said she witnessed the death of an injured cat in her neighborhood and that this summer has brought an unusual number of coyote sightings.

“Every summer, we’ll hear the pack coming through our backyard, several nights in a row sometimes," Bates said. "I know there’s been much more activity on other streets nearby this summer."

Pellman said the Agricultural Department does not proactively control the coyote population because, under normal conditions, the animals help control the wild snake population.

"If they're aggressive enough to come into someone's home, that's a real problem," Pellman said. "We put human life above the coyote life."

The coyotes that are trapped are euthanized, Pellman said, because the department is not allowed to relocate the animals, separating them from their pack, without a special permit.

Pellman said the traps for the animals are considered humane and merely hold the animals until they can be retrieved by county staff.

Pellman said prevention is the first step and that residents should make sure to keep yards free of any food — including fallen or ripe fruit from trees — or water that might attract a coyote. Pellman said residents should refer to the list of tips for deterring coyotes on the county website.

“Anything a resident does to protect their property from a coyote is really where most of the effort can be made that is most effective," Pellman said.

DeStefano asked that residents call with any reports of coyote sightings. Pellman said residents can also call the Department of Agriculture at (626) 575-5462.

If a coyote is threatening human life, Pellman said, residents should call 911 for emergency response.

"What we don't want is a coyote attacking a child," Pellman said.

More in this story:

• 
  
• Coyote attack at my house