Riverside Police Release 2014 Coyote Sighting Report

Caption: Just a few of the photos residents have sent to Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel of coyotes in their neighborhood. 1) Harlem Avenue 2) Courtyard apartment

Chances are if you’ve driven through Riverside you may have spotted a coyote or two ambling down Harlem Avenue, or enjoying a meal out of a garbage can on Longcommon Road.

During 2014, residents reported 66 sightings of coyotes, according to the Riverside Police Department’s annual coyote report, down 82 percent from the year before, when 383 sightings were reported to police.

The village is divided into five zones. Coyotes were most frequently in “Zone 4,” an area roughly bounded by 26th Street on the north, Byrd Road on the east, Longcommon Road on the south and Des Plaines Avenue on the west.

Residents reported 24 coyote sightings in Zone 4 in 2014; in 2013, 265 sightings took place. Coyotes throughout the village were spotted most frequently between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. between dawn and dusk, with a scattering in the evening and overnight hours.

Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said “Zone 4” is comprised largely of single-family homes with winding streets.

“It is not located near the woods,” Weitzel said. “Residents do at times leave out garage and do not cover their garbage cans.”

Weitzel added that police believe coyotes may have a backyard den somewhere in the area.

In December, Riverside became the first community in the nation to adopt The Humane Society of the United States’ new coyote template plan.

The village’s humane coyote management plan aims to solve conflicts among, people, pets and coyotes in the area.

Residents will become educated on reducing potential conflicts with the varmints by managing trash and other food sources that attract coyotes and collecting coyote sighting data.

The plan also teaches proven, nonlethal techniques of aversive conditions or hazing to deter coyotes who have become too bold.

Lethal control of coyotes would only take place in the rare event of a coyote attack on a person.

The coyote population in Cook County is estimated in the thousands, according to the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

Residents can help curb coyote conflicts by not leaving pets, especially smaller dogs and cats, unattended outdoors. Pets should be supervised when out in the backyard, even if it has a fence. Coyotes are capable of jumping over a 6-foot fence.

Feeding coyotes is not encouraged either, as there is plenty of smaller prey for them to forage around the neighborhood. Pet food should also not be left outside.

The typical territorial range for a coyote is three to four miles.

“As a police department, we have taken many steps to ensure that we can respond to coyote complaints in an educated, compassionate and professional manner,” Weitzel said when the village adopted the coyote management plan. “The collaboration with The Humane Society of the United States will only further our response to our residents.”

Riverside Coyote Report 2014