Crime & Safety

City Officials: Rye Will Continue Aggressive Approach After Killing Coyote

The city captured and killed a male coyote on July 31, but said it did not inform the public because it didn't want to compromise the capture location.

At a City Council meeting Monday night, Rye Mayor Doug French said the city will continue its aggressive hunting and trapping efforts after capturing and killing a coyote on July 31 near North Street.

The coyote, a 40 lb male, was the first to be captured after attacks on a 6-year-old girl and 3-year-old girl in Rye two months ago.

News of the coyote killing became public after Jim Horton, the trapper whom the city hired after the attacks, posted a message on the Facebook page of his company, Quality Pro Pest and Wildlife Services, exclaiming: "Tenth Coyote Caught in Rye Today!"

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Horton also captured nine coyotes—one female and eight pups—when the city began trapping the animals after a March attack in which coyotes killed a small poodle at the Osborn Retirement Community. Those animals weren't euthanized, but were relocated.

According to a statement issued Monday by Rye Police Commissioner William Connors, the city decided not to inform the public about the July 31 incident because it hoped to capture more coyotes in the same location. Horton told police that more animals could be captured if the area was left undisturbed or did not garner media attention.

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"Wildlife experts uniformly say that it is extraordinarily difficult to trap coyotes during the summer; since Mr.Horton had success with this location, we were obligated to preserve it for as long as possible," Connors said. "Contamination of the area would have eliminated that opportunity."

The male coyote was captured in a leg hold trap around 3 p.m. on July 31.

Connors said the coyote was not harmed in any way by the trapping process, but was later euthanized in accordance with the aggressive program the city adopted after the attacks on the two young girls.

The animal's remains were removed by the trappers and will be submitted to New York State for a necropsy. There is no way to identify whether the male coyote was involved in the June attacks.

Coyote sightings in Rye have declined in recent weeks. Since July 26, only two sightings have been reported to police, both of which were on Aug. 3. However, the city has only captured one coyote in two months, even after residents began reporting several sightings on a daily basis.

French said that it is difficult to trap coyotes in the summer. The animals aren't as mobile during this period, but from September through May, coyote pups begin to disperse and they become much easier to catch. During the winter months, when coyotes are searching for food, they are also easier to locate.

However, French said the decrease in sightings indicates that city's more aggressive approach, which also includes hazing and harrassment of coyotes, has been successful.

"We know that it has been effective in re-establishing the fear in coyotes. Sights have been down," he said.

Rye City Manager Scott Pickup said he will provide an update to the City Council this week on the coyote program, and will continue to seek input from federal officials and the State Department of Environmental Conservation about how to proceed with a long-term strategy, which the city began discussing last month with neighboring municipalities such as Harrison, Mamaroneck and Rye Brook.

In September, the City Council will be presented with a proposal about how to proceed with its coyote program, Pickup said.

He also said that in the future the city will inform the public after it has captured a coyote in the area. However, it won't release any details about the location of the capture, at least until that location is determined to no longer be an active area for attracting coyotes.

The city's trapper, Jim Horton, has been instructed to let the Commissioner handle all public statements, Pickup said, so it's unlikely Horton will be posting any more Rye coyote updates on his Facebook page.

That's good news for a least one City Council member. Councilman Peter Jovanovich asked Monday night if there was any way the city could ensure that Horton would be more tight-lipped in the future.

"You think our trapper could be a bit less loquacious?" Jovanovich said.


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