How Feeding North Shore Coyotes Is Putting Them In Great Danger

SWAMPSCOTT, MA – Former Swampscott Animal Control Officer Dan Proulx has spent a good part of his career saving coyotes that are in danger.

He told Patch that any recent coyote bites on the North Shore are likely the cause of people feeding them and turning coyotes into more of a danger than they would ever be if they were simply scared away and left alone.

For the second time in three weeks Saturday night, a person was bitten in a parking lot in Swampscott's Vinnin Square area. The first time it was early morning. The second time it was a woman who was walking to her car in the Bertucci's parking lot with food from the restaurant.

In those types of incidents, Proulx feels, the coyote in question — which he believes may be the same coyote in Swampscott — had previously been fed by people and was nipping to alert the humans that he or she was hungry.

"These are young coyotes who have been fed generously around the town," Proulx said. "You can understand their thought process. They can't bark or beg like a regular dog. So, they nip to let you know that you have food and they want some of that.

"There's not many of them (acting like this). If there were a whole bunch there would be a whole bunch of incidents."

Feeding the coyotes — whether it be out of fascination or a misplaced sense of compassion — contributes to this dependent behavior that then puts the coyote in very real danger.

"Everyone has to work together," Proulx said, adding that he supports the new Swampscott ACO’s efforts in the town. "Coyotes are the biggest wusses you've ever met in your life. They are like squirrels. When I first started (as an ACO) I can't tell you how many I just scared off and they never came back.

"But these coyotes are being deliberately fed. People toss food on the ground. Or people are leaving out water for them. The young ones then learn that people have food and go up to them."

Proulx compared the problem to when people used to hand feed seagulls at Revere Beach and the seagulls became so abundant and aggressive that feeding them became prohibited. He said he favors a similar bylaw against feeding coyotes, turkeys and other wildlife on the North Shore.

He said the best way to avoid contact with a coyote is to make an area, or a property, uncomfortable for mother coyotes who will then teach pups to stay away. Something as simple as rearranging lawn furniture often is enough to make some coyotes uneasy, while he suggested the use of Halloween outdoor decorations that make scary noises which, he said, will scare away the coyotes.

He also suggested a concerted effort among neighbors to make loud noises within a neighborhood at a certain time around dusk.

"You can see how around Vinnin Square there are a lot of scents and smells," he noted. "Then you maybe have a restaurant worker who is throwing food out the back and it's on the ground. So, they get used to that.

"It's probably two coyotes. I personally think it's only one. But it's giving them all a bad name."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)