Simsbury Police To Offer 'Living With Coyotes' Presentation

Every once in a while, a controversy erupts as to whether or not Connecticut is home to mountain lions.  But, when it comes to coyotes, there is no question.  Coyotes are in Connecticut and more importantly, right here in the Farmington Valley.

According to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, coyotes are not native to Connecticut. Rather, they have migrated eastward over the last one hundred years. The DEEP estimated in 2007 that there were between 2,000 and 4,000 coyotes in the state.

Mark Rudewicz, Simsbury's Animal Control officer, says it's a species in Connecticut that has no preditors.  "Like the black bear population, the number of coyotes is growing," said Rudewicz. "I describe them as the wolves of the Northeast."

Contrary to popular belief, coyotes are not nocturnal. "They are opportunistic hunters. They eat when they are hungry," said Rudewicz, and attacks on pets can occur.

Rudewicz explains further that the construction of neighborhoods have spread directly into the path of coyote habitats. "A lot of the places we are seeing them are natural habitats for them. These are places that they would be and should be," said Rudewicz.  Many neighborhoods in fact abut densely wooded areas and natural space.

Rudewicz says people still need to take precautionary measures. 

Despite their similarity to dogs, coyotes are not to be approached as pets.  Attacks on people, children, and pets have occurred and it is best not to socialize them to associate food with people, so as to keep them far from neighborhoods.

"The safest thing for a smaller dog is to have the owner out there with them to supervise.  Most of the attacks on dogs are with the smaller dogs.  But there are exceptions," advised Rudewicz.

A physical barrier is probably the best defense.

Rudewicz says that coyotes are actually "more skittish of us than we are led to believe.  Attacks on humans are rare."

"Unlike the bear, when I get dispatched to a bear in a yard, I have to haze them off to move them back into a wooded area.  But by the time I get there on a coyote call, they are usually gone or in a wooded area," said Rudewicz.

"I want to alleviate some of the fears, they are not a predator that will go after humans. There are no absolutes, but the chances are that it's not going to happen," he added. "Yes, they're here, and we want you and your pets to be safe."

On Monday March 26 at 6:30 pm at the Simsbury Public Library, Rudewicz and State DEEP biologist Christopher Vann will be offering a candid discussion and video presentation about the coyote population.

"We're going to speak about the coyote population and inform the public," said Rudewicz.  "We have a lot of folks that call us when they see them and we want to arm them with a little more information."

The presentation is free and all are invited to attend. For further information you can contact Animal Control Officer Mark Rudewicz at 860-658-3110.

For more information on coyotes, check out the DEEP's fact sheet.