Above: File photo of “Jepsy,” a large member of the south Portsmouth coyote pack.
PORTSMOUTH — Despite approving a no-feed ordinance more than two years ago, Portsmouth apparently still has a coyote problem.
On the night of May 13, a large coyote went after a small dog being walked by its owner, Lisa Pastore, in the Sandy Point Avenue area.
“It went to jump on my dog, which was on a harness. It jumped and I kicked and I threw my flashlight on it,” said Ms. Pastore, who screamed at the animal as her neighbors came out to help. “It took four houses’ worth of people to scare that thing away.”
On Tuesday at the police station, Ms. Pastore met with Deputy Police Chief Brian Peters, Animal Control Officer Ariel Fisher, Interim Town Administrator James Lathrop and coyote researcher Numi Mitchell to discuss strategies to deal with the issue.
The biggest problem, said Ms. Mitchell, lead scientist and project director of the Narragansett Bay Coyote Study, remains the same: Some residents are still feeding coyotes, which not only makes the wild animals more comfortable around humans, but keeps them coming back to residential neighborhoods searching for more food.
“If it jumped up on you, it probably is an animal who’s been habituated by a hand-feeder,” Ms. Mitchell told Ms. Pastore, adding that while “99.99 percent of coyotes are afraid of people,” the ones who have been “trained” not to be skittish are the problem animals.
Both Ms. Mitchell and police have been frustrated by one particular resident of Jepson Lane — a woman who insists on hand-feeding one or more coyotes despite warnings to stop.
“They’re very hard to stop,” Ms. Mitchell said of hand-feeders. “We’ve known about this person for years. This is only a mile or less from Sandy Point.”
Officer Fisher said she’s spoken to the woman herself.
“She was not very cooperative,” she said, noting that the fine for hand-feeding is $50. “It should be a higher fine.”
Mr. Lathrop said the town can address the amount of the fine. The town’s new municipal court should also make it easier to drag offenders in front of a judge, he added.
Ms. Mitchell said Middletown — which has an escalating fine for repeat offenders — has actually staked a detective on a cat-feeding site that has caused a “traffic station” with coyotes in that town.
Hunting not an option
Ms. Pastore suggested that if coyotes are overpopulating the area, they should be hunted more.
Ms. Mitchell said that would be a futile response, however, as shooting coyotes is not only difficult but does little to decrease their visibility in residential areas; coyotes removed from one area will be quickly replaced by others. Coyotes also breed more when they’re being aggressively controlled, she said.
“You can’t eradicate coyotes,” said Ms. Mitchell. “There will always be more coming here. But we want to get back to the situation where coyotes are scared of people and they’re not looking to humans for food in any sense.”
Mr. Lathrop said the town doesn’t want to be in the business of hunting coyotes en masse anyway. He suggested following Ms. Mitchell’s suggestion of prevention through public education, beefed-up enforcement of the existing no-feed ordinance and tracking where the problem coyotes are going.
That last bit can be accomplished by a special collar Ms. Mitchell showed the group. If a coyote is successfully trapped and collared, her group can find out where the coyote is getting food from humans, which can be used as hard evidence for police to go after an offender. She said she needs to get permission from her board before the collar can be used in Portsmouth.
Carcass recycling
Also subsidizing local coyotes’ food source are dead farm animals, which Ms, Mitchell said is particularly a problem in Portsmouth. Farmers can’t get rid of a dead cow, so they end up putting it in a compost pile.
She suggested the town pursue the purchase of a bioliquidator alkaline hydrolysis system — Ms. Mitchell preferred to call it a “safe cycle unit” — that would not only keep dead animal carcasses away from coyotes but produce nutrient-rich fertilizer for farmland. “It’s got a smell to it,” she acknowledged.
The machine, which costs about $100,000, is a mobile unit that can be trucked to other towns that may be interested in sharing the costs, said Ms. Mitchell, who urged the town to apply for a grant through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which would pay for 75 percent of the costs. Mr. Lathrop agreed to look into the matter.
Problem? Call police
Deputy Chief Peters said police haven’t heard many complaints over coyotes since the no-feed ordinance went into effect.
“This is our first reported issue in ages,” he said, referring to the attack on Ms. Pastore’s dog.
He said if people do see a problem coyote, they should contact police at 683-0300. He stressed, however, that residents shouldn’t call if they have merely spotted a coyote or have heard them howling. Police should be notified when coyotes get too close to humans or domestic pets, he said.
Ms. Pastore, meanwhile, says she’s been afraid to walk her dog ever since the attack last week. Ms. Mitchell suggested that until the problem is eradicated, she should carry a boat horn when she’s with her dog outside. One blast will send any coyote running, she said.
“I really appreciate that Portsmouth is on the ball,” said Ms. Pastore. “My hope for this meeting is to connect with Middletown and Newport on this issue. The three towns should be working together on this.”
Ms. Mitchell agreed. “They’re everybody’s problem.”
