Coyote Injured in Illegal Trap at Palm Desert Country Club

PALM DESERT, CA - A coyote found with its leg ensnared in an illegal trap at a Palm Desert country club Wednesday will hopefully be able to be returned to the wild after recovering, according to animal control officials.

The coyote was found about 6:30 a.m. by an employee of the Big Horn Golf Country Club, said Riverside County Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh.

Animal Control Officer Lisa Boughamer, who was sent to the scene, found the animal with its front left leg trapped in what was described as a clamp-style or body-gripping trap, Welsh said.

Boughamer said the coyote was probably stuck in the trap for several hours.

"He was pretty frantic,'' she said. "He was jumping and ripping (his) leg side to side in an effort to escape.''

Boughamer took the coyote with the trap still attached to the Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms, where she and fellow Animal Control Officer Hector Palafox removed it.

The coyote was then taken to The Living Desert zoo in Palm Desert to be examined. Boughamer reported that the coyote's injuries were not severe and that the zoo's medical team was "optimistic the animal could be released back
into the wild'' after recovering.

Though the trap was on country club property, it was not known whether the trap was placed by anyone associated with the club. The Department of Fish & Wildlife will be investigating the incident.

"Body-gripping traps, or leg holds, have been illegal in California for quite some time,'' according to DFG Warden Kyle Chang. Cage and box traps, which confine an animal by luring it with food without physically harming it, are legal.

"I know many people are not fans of coyotes because they prey on their small pets. But when people live so close to where these animals roam, it's their responsibility to protect their pets,'' Boughamer said. "Wildlife should
not have to suffer in this cruel and inhumane manner.''

--City News Service/Photos via Riverside County Animal Services