Commissioner: Rye Police Will Get More Aggressive Against Coyotes

Rye Police Commissioner William Connors spoke at Monday's special meeting of the Rye City Council, telling both the public and local officials that the police are willing to do whatever it takes—including shooting coyotes if necessary—to ensure public safety.

Connors has made several public statements since a pair of coyotes attacked 6-year-old Emily Hodulik in front of her home on Lasalle Avenue on Friday.

The attack happened around 9:15 p.m., when Emily was playing with her friends.

As she began to run, the two coyotes "singled her out for the attack" and brought her to the ground, scratching and biting her amid screaming and confusion until her mother was able to scare them away, Connors told Patch this weekend. The most likely reason the animals had for targeting her was her small size.

Connors said Monday that there are no indications that the animals actually had rabies. He said the animals that attacked the young girl might have been juvenile coyotes that are still learning their way around the hunting process.

Connors also said that about 30 minutes before Hodulik's attack, police responded to an incident involving a young boy on Florence Avenue who was approached and sniffed by a coyote. In that case, an older sibling was able to scare away the coyote before it became too aggressive. Police also received a call last Wednesday about the sighting of three coyotes in the Barbara Court area.

Still, Connors said coyote attacks on humans are "extremely rare."

This is "highly unusual behavior," he said.

Police are relying on trapping to address the coyote problem, along with having specific officers assigned to respond to coyote sightings in the area, Connors said.

Police have already set traps in the area around the Osborn Retirement Community and the Osborn Cemetery near where the attack took place. The police will also go to places where there are coyote dens in order to better trap the animals, Connors said. However, Connors told Patch before Monday's meeting that it is becoming more difficult to trap the coyotes because they may recognize the scent of trappers and are becoming more adept at avoiding the traps set by them.

Connors told the City Council on Monday that the police department has a permit that allows them to "hunt, trap and kill" coyotes. Although the police are relying on trapping and removal, they really have "no choice other than to take more aggressive efforts."

Connors said once coyotes are trapped and captured, they are typically relocated to another state or released on the other side of the river so they can't come back into the area, a tactic which is advocated by state and county officials.

However, Rye Police have already begun to adopt a stronger approach.

After Hodulik's attack, police spotted one of the coyotes a few minutes later in the same neighborhood. An officer chased the animal onto the grounds of a nearby golf course and fired a shot at the coyote, but did not hit his intended target.

Connors said though the county does not encourage a more aggressive approach, coyotes in the area appear to be becoming less fearful of humans, so they police must respond to the situation accordingly.

The Rye City Council gave Connors and the police department their full support, with Councilman Joe Sack saying that he fully agreed with the police doing whatever is necessary to remove the coyotes.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is the number one public safety issue in Rye," he said.