Bear with me for way to combat coyote problem

At least four down, and who knows how many to go.

Wheaton began its coyote culling program this week with the word that a professional trapper the city hired had captured and presumably shot to death four coyotes.

Until Wheaton became the first town to publicly announce it was trying to thin the population of aggressive or diseased coyotes, I had no idea they had such a devoted following.

I'm basing this on the highly scientific measurement of letters to the editor and online story commenting. We haven't received as many letters on a local issue since the furor in Naperville last year on the relocation of the community garden plots. The online posts to Robert Sanchez's Wednesday story of the coyote kill are still drawing posts (more than 200 and counting as I write this).

I can't help but wonder, though, if this really is a hot-button issue that everyone is weighing in on, or if it's one that has inspired some real passion among a vocal few. But based solely on the feedback, you'd think everyone thinks coyote culling is a really bad idea. The rare people who have voiced their online support of the city's decision have been shouted down.

Wheaton Mayor Micheal Gresk says he thinks the "vast majority" of people have no strong opinion or haven't even heard of the controversy. That doesn't mean he hasn't gotten an earful. But he suggests the passion might be a bit misplaced.

"I would be thrilled if people would transfer some of that enthusiasm into a budget meeting, unfunded mandates or some of the challenges facing our city."

For the potentially high number of you who haven't been following the debate, it goes something like this: Coyote trapping is necessary because the animals have become emboldened and aggressive, far more likely to forage back yards for food or prey. Coyotes have taken out a few pets; some say they've taken to hopping backyard fences to get what they're after, and the city wants to nip this in the bud before a child is attacked.

Hogwash, the other side says. You can't possibly trap just the diseased and aggressive coyotes. The ones you kill will be replaced by others. Coyotes provide an essential link in the order of nature, hunting raccoons, mice and other critters that some would argue are a bigger problem. Besides, aren't we the ones who encroached on the coyote's habitat? Culling or hunting is the way other animals, such as elk and wolves (the coyote's predator), became members of the endangered species club in Illinois.

Perhaps lost amid the rhetoric might be some solutions to consider. So, I want to pass along some things I learned from Mike Hodges of Naperville, a designer of outdoor Web sites with a passion for wildlife. He wrote one of the first and most practical letters we received on the coyote topic. So, I followed up with him.

Hodges, who often camps alone in the national parks and says he's never been threatened by a coyote, believes the solution to our coyote problem might be found in the way we ward off grizzly bears. Hodges said he's consulted wildlife experts, and he's convinced the bear spray used in the northern Rockies and Alaska to keep grizzlies at bay will work just fine on coyotes. "This is a device meant to stop 700 pound grizzly bears," he says. "It will work on coyotes." When a coyote gets too close - moving aggressively within 20 feet of you or your pet - grab the can of spray and let the coyote have it. (Hodges was not sure who around here sells the bear spray, but suggests https://store.udap.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category Code=BS for starters.)

Not only does the spray irritate the eyes and sting the mouth and tongue of the animal, Hodges says, it teaches "bad" coyotes to be "good" coyotes. The ones that have become too aggressive will associate humans and pets with the unpleasant sensation of the bear spray.

Hodges likes this solution because it gives residents who live in areas frequented by coyotes a greater sense of personal control and responsibility. It also "reduces the need for government intervention and saves taxpayer dollars in a time of budget deficits and economic hardship."

And maybe provide the citizenry more time to focus on unfunded mandates.

jdavis@dailyherald.com