Two coyotes caught by traps at Heritage Park in Champaign
CHAMPAIGN – Animal traps, intended for coyotes, have been removed from Heritage Park on the west side of town.
The contractor hired for the work said he caught two over the past few days.
Champaign police Lt. Michael Paulus said he was not directly involved in the matter, but that one of his sergeants told him the park district had set traps after coyotes had been seen in and near Heritage Park on the south side of Bradley Avenue in west Champaign.
The park district, he said, had received reports of coyotes acting aggressively toward dogs being walked.
Residents of the area walking on the trails, or walking their dogs on the trails, reported the traps. No dogs or people were reported injured.
The traps' jaws do not have teeth and are rubber-lined, according to Paulus.
Steve Beckman, owner of Anything Wild, was hired to catch the coyotes. He said Wednesday afternoon he had caught two coyotes, which will be euthanized.
Erin Volden said she was walking her dog about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday when her dog found a trap that had been sprung. The trap was about 10 yards from the sidewalk, she estimated.
"A lot of times, (dogs) play in the grass," she said.
Laura Auteberry, marketing and development director for the park district, said the district had received reports on three occasions of a resident walking a dog and encountering a coyote acting aggressively -- in one case, trying to separate the resident and her dog as a hunting tactic.
Whoa. Is killing them really necessary?! Can't they be relocated together?
These were questions that I asked Steve after reading this. Steve said the two coyotes caught were a 20 month old pup & it's Alpha Bitch Mom. The Alpha Dad & other pups are still around.
These SPECIFIC coyotes are learning & practicing hunting people & their dogs. Steve said he will be demonstrating the traps 2nite on the news to show they are rubber-lined & totally w/in "ethical" trapping outlines. Neither of them were hurt during the trapping.
I don't like it, but I understand it. If they were to be relocated it would have to be >10mi but <40mi away & you need written permission from the land owner to release there. Not likely.
Unfortunately, this is a no win situation for anyone.
If they are working together as a pack, then separating the family to different areas of relocation way out in the wild would solve the problem faced at the park. And while the coyotes would need to be relocated WAY out and written permission would be necessary....I disagree that it is unlikely that someone would allow it. Killing them without trying to find a few landowners that would allow relocation is just taking the path of least resistance and is unethical until options are exhausted. Hopefully the media attention might bring forth some opportunities that will spare the lives of other coyotes.
This is so insanely stupid for so many reasons. Aside from the obvious unnecessary inhumane treatment of these creatures, now I need to watch out for traps when I take my kids to the park? Give me a break. Whoever authorized this is a liability to the Park District and should be disciplined accordingly - I suggest using a steel trap to do it.
Apparently, the Parks Department feels that coyotes are extremely smart and apparently can read. So, I'm guessing that is why they didn't bother to put signs up about the traps warning people they were there.
Laura who is quoted in the article took the time to educate me. Apparently, coyotes are too smart to be caught in cage traps. This comes as a surprise to my father-in-law in another state, who worked with game and fish and trapped them humanely for various studies.
Bad decision made by well-meaning folk.
Okay now I'm mad! I called animal control this morning because my boyfriend found one in the trap. I'm glad that the traps are rubber but still is it necessary to kill them!? I might be wrong but can't they be relocated?
I understand that they are a problem since my boyfriend told me that one was following him while he was walking one of our dogs yesterday but there has to be a more humane way to deal with them. Very disappointed in the way it was handled.
Also there should have been some sort of sign letting residents know why the traps where out in the first place!
From an internet source for fish and wildlife:
while there have been cases of coyotes coming into fenced yards and killing a dog or cat, or even taking a pet from a child’s arms or off a leash, there has been only one documented fatal coyote attack in the United States, which occurred when a toddler was killed in California in 1980.
These animals CAN be relocated. Pose no significant threat (they scare easily).
The traps may be humane, but what happened after isn't.
It causes me great pain to read that Mr. Beckman is going to kill the coyotes caught today. How can he tell if these particular animals were behaving in an aggressive way before they were trapped? Once ANY animal is caught in a trap it is going to behave aggressively, as Mr. Beckman could demonstrate were he left vulnerable to humans and the elements without food, water or shelter.
I'd like to know more about the criteria used to determine whether or not an animal gets to live (aside from just it's species) as well as the statistics of how many animals Anything Wild has euthanized out of all the animals trapped. A representative of the company assured me not to worry...that they relocate the animals they catch and do NOT kill the animals that they trap. Well, from the news articles, that is obviously not the case. Another agency that I spoke with in the same vicinity told me they use a service that catches the coyotes then releases them in the wild. The representative was very proud to be able to assure me that the animals are not destroyed, and that gave a glimmer of hope in a dismal situation. When I asked the name of the vendor so I could pass the name onto the Park District, I was discouraged to learn that the second agency also uses Anything Wild and might be misinformed about what actually happens to the animals after they are trapped.
It's nice that the traps won't hurt people...but how often are the traps checked to make sure the animals don't get hurt in a panic?. With pets, humane treatment includes providing food, water and shelter. What is the definition of humane TREATMENT for wild animals? While rhetoric defines the traps as "humane", what takes place once they come out of the trap appears to be anything but. It's time to do better. Education rather than killing is a much more humane way to protect ourselves and our pets.
I'm very glad that this situation has come to light and that the traps have been removed. Can you imagine what might have happened in 4 days with throngs of people walking around during the fireworks...in the dark....and coming upon these traps?? So glad that no dogs or kids were injured. Absolutely SHOCKED that the Park District did not find the value in putting up signs to alert the public that there were traps in the park and to be alert for wildlife in the first place. Someone's judgement lapsed.
For info on co-existing with wildlife, check out the U of I Extension's Living with Wildlife website:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/wildlife/
Submitted to digg.com. Hopefully, this story will catch someone's attention and it will spread beyond our community. I am SHOCKED that the Champaign Park district did not put up any warning sings advising the public! If someone's child had gotten caught in the leghold trap....rubber or not, use of these traps are inexcusable!
Trapping and killing these animals is absolutely inexcusable. Coyotes pose no threat whatsoever to humans under any circumstances. None. This isn't just an overreaction by the city, it is criminal behavior that should be investigated and prosecuted. What next? Are we going to trap deer and squirrels that roam our parks too? Have we lost all our sense of nature by living so long in a city? Apparently so.
Why didn't the park district put up signs notifying the public about the traps? All you have to do is read the posts on here to know the answer. If the public had been notified some bleeding heart would have tripped the traps on purpose. Are those who oppose this as cruelty typing this while wearing their leather belt, shoes, or carrying their leather purse while wearing a leather coat?
Oh, I see. Because some people who object to this senseless killing might wear leather or eat meat, then it's quite all right to kill any and all wildlife that happen into our parks? Great. With that sort of thinking, the world will be devoid of all living things in no time. Smart thinking there, Einstein...
This makes me utterly sick. I can not believe this company was dumb enough to set traps that a kid could get caught in or the Park District allowed it. In addition, why are we euthanizing these poor guys instead of relocating them? I can honestly say that I will never use Anything Wild for pest problems and I will be encourging all my friends to do the same. I will also be seriously rethinking using or donating to any of the Park District Programs.
What does the Humane Society do with an aggressive dog? They euthanize them. The only difference is the dogs are trainable through thousands of years of domestication and the coyotes are not. They have found that cats and dogs are much easier to catch than rabbits and birds, especially when they are attached to a leash. If you have an issue with Anything Wild call them and complain.
People are ignoring the inherent liability with the Park district being aware of the aggressive coyotes and possibly not taking action. They did the right thing by removing a public safety issue before people or pets could actually be harmed. It is their duty to keep the parks safe and I am glad to see that they are doing so. As for the euthanization of the coyotes, within the state laws, I see no other viable solution. More than 10 miles but no more than 40 with the owners permission... who in their right mind would allow human and pet aggressive animals on their property. It is sad but human-animal conflicts are bound to happen and I am glad to see that the Park District acted decisively to the present danger.
I think it is awful the coyotes are being killed....I can see them being re-located and such back into the country...but just killing them because they were in some park and acted "aggressive" towards a dog that was probably acting aggressively back. I have never heard of any pets or humans being hurt by these things around here. I think coyotes are pretty cool and we should feel blessed to have such awesome wild life around town.
Overall: They should not be killed but re-located...there is nothing humane about euthanasia directed at an animal that lives in the wild and has never hurt anything or anyone.
It is amazing how many people think they shouldn't euthanize these animals. All unowned dogs should be captured and if they are not appropriate for adoption then they should be put down. Obviously, coyotes are not appropriate for adoption so put them down. It is the most humane approach. Some people are talking about relocation but the difficulty in finding a landowner to accept these animals make euthanatizing them a much more cost effective use of our tax dollars.
This is the perfect example of how ignorant people are about wildlife and nature in general. Coyotes are not appropriate for adoption so put them down??? What the hell? For your information, coyotes are wild animals and no damn person in this world should keep a wild animal as a pet. Don't compare domestic animals to wildlife. These coyotes have lived here far longer than we have. We are the intruders, the destroyers by which destruction is so inherent to our nature. Coyotes among other predators are a part of the complex ecosystem in which we live in with all its intricate functions and interrelationships, something you completely lack knowledge of.
I'd like to know more about these supposed instances of coyotes hunting people. I don't believe it, frankly. I grew up in the boonies of Michigan and live on the west side of Champaign, so I've seen my share of coyotes, and in every instance if I so much as sneeze in their direction they're running for their lives. Sure, they'll get your cat if you're not careful, but they're too smart to mess with people or even a sizeable dog. I suspect this is just another example of people freaking out at nature. Kill the spider, kill the coyote, kill the bear, it's all the same to people who feel uneasy at any piece of land that hasn't been paved over. My advice is to just take the coyotes out and dump them out somewhere west of Mahomet or something. The landowners won't notice a thing. The countryside is teeming with coyotes anyway. It's true! Coyotes gonna getcha!
It's laughable how unrealistic some of the responses to this article are. So many people question the manner in which this problem is dealt with, but no one has an answer besides "relocate them". Would you want a coyote released on your property? Do you want these animals around your homes? The clear answer is no. People say that it's a feasible to relocate if it's within 40 miles, yet no one takes into account the fact that no one wants this animal on their ground, regardless if it's five miles or forty. Then comes the idea that since the traps were in the public, they we're a danger to kids or pets. Why would your child or pet be so far away from you or so close to a trap that they would be in danger of being caught? Use common sense. Also, their are so many complaints about the humanity, yet a vast majority of the respondents eat animals that are raised to be slaughtered for commerical use. Get real. If this is the issue you think is truly pressing in our community, you have lost sight of the big picture and don't understand that their are 100 other things that deserve half the attention that's being given to this.
You're right about one thing. This should not be a big deal. I hear coyotes outside my house on the outskirts of town all the time, and you can bet they're watching you if you ever bike or take a walk on surrounding roads. It's been that way for years and nobody's been mauled. These particular coyotes made such a big splash because they made it far enough into town to be spotted by people who usually don't see coyotes, and the people freaked out. You make it sound naive to say that we just relocate them out of town. What more do you need to hear? Details? Okay, put them in the back of a truck, drive to some public land somewhere, and open the door. Watch them run. Nobody will tell the difference. Really. There are that many of them. I'm no friend of the coyotes, but I just happen to think that it's inhumane to kill things when we don't have a compelling reason. And not knowing where to dump them is not a compelling reason.
Are you saying to just kill them? Humans are so pathetically removed and distant from nature that they can't handle seeing a coyote around their homes. We are the ones intruding in their homes in the first place. This shows how ignorant humans are about animals and animal behavior. Leave them alone and don't do anything stupid and they won't bother you. I'ts also not a good idea to have your dog or little kids wandering out of your sight in the first place. Also, you don't have to be a vegetarian to be an animal rights activist. You mentioned how respondents may "eat animals that are raised to be slaughtered for commerical use," but that's just it: eating livestock who are raised for the sole purpose to be killed. Eating livestock is not the same as eating wildlife.
I see lots of requests for these animals to be relocated. These people don't care at all about the beautiful baby deer fawns and cute little baby bunny rabbits who will be eaten alive by coyotes. That is just mean. Poor little defenseless spotted fawns getting munched on by ravenouse, displaced coyotes.. and their momma's can only stand by and watch.
It's very ignorant of you to say that coyotes killing "litte cute fawns and bunny rabbits" is mean because coyotes are carnivores and it's in their nature to do so. Carnivores play a crucial role in the ecosystem by controlling the herbivore population and too many herbivores in an area will completely decimate the vegetation in the area and upset the balance in an ecosystem. Every creature in nature plays an important role, and it is human prejudice to side only with certain animals like deer and rabbits. People who think it's "mean" for predators to kill have no understanding of nature.
I think it's inhumane to euthanize innocent coyotes. I grew up in the country and never had any problems with them. i now live a small town and i can hear them at night. They don't attack unless they are provoked. They are skiddish of humans. I say just leave the poor animals alone. They aren't hurting anyone, just hunting for food.
Comments
News-Gazette.com embraces discussion of both community and world issues. We welcome you to contribute your ideas, opinions and comments, but we ask that you avoid personal attacks, vulgarity and hate speech. We reserve the right to remove any comment at our discretion, and we will block repeat offenders' accounts. To post comments, you must first be a registered user, and your username will appear with any comment you post. Happy posting.