Coyotes are a familiar and growing problem in North Carolina as their population rises and urban encroachment continues. The North Carolina General Assembly has asked the state's wildlife commission to look into the threat of coyotes.
Early in March, the commission released it's Coyote Management Plan which is a report on ways to manage the coyote population. Alongside education and outreach, one of the ways prescribed in the report is trapping.
North Carolina's Coyote hunting season is year round.
Trapping season is from December 1-February 28. It is allowed after February on private property, if the property owner gets a depredation permit from the wildlife commission. Property owner will have to prove coyotes are causing damage to property such as livestock.
Coyote sightings are common in rural and heavily wooded areas but not rare in urban settings. "We do get some calls like hey I saw a coyote trotting through the backyard but the worst is usually my cat's gone missing a coyote got it," said Christy Steele a wildlife removal specialist with 'A All Animal Control' in Greensboro.
"We specialize in nuisance wildlife control," added Steel as she readied her equipment for the day to respond to a groundhog problem. Some of the animals she has gotten called to extract include coyotes and she is trained to trap them.
"When you set them you open them up and the animal steps in there and it's a foothold that should be catching them on the paw and that's what you want," Steele said as she explained what happens with a trap. Concerns about coyotes have risen across the state of North Carolina.
Early in March, a coyote attacked a girl in Davie county while in the coastal Nagshead City, Officials hired a trapper who got rid of 17. Some of the coyotes were found rearing their young on a beach and scarring off beach goers.
A fair share of calls have come into the Forsyth County Animal Control. "We had a coyote get trapped under a residential deck and officers responded and we were able to get the coyote," recalled Deputy Randy Brown of an incident lat year. He advised that if you are attacked by a coyote you have every right to defend yourself by any means but it's necessary to check your city's ordinances on use of a firearm in such a situation.
He also urged that the best way to deal with coyotes is by preventing an opportunity for them to lurk around. "Keep your animals inside and of course if possible all the dog food and cat food need to be limited in outdoor locations," He suggested motion detectors that switch on lights to scare coyotes away from your home.
The N.C Trappers association presented a resolution to the Forsyth county board of commissioners for support. They want state regulation on trapping to be expanded and standardized to help manage coyote population.
Currently, the more valuable foxes are excluded. When traps set for Coyotes catch foxed instead, the trapper by law has to release the fox. This according to the association leaves no incentive to set traps for Coyotes.
FULL COPY of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission's 2018 Coyote Management Plan.
Some tips from NC Wildlife on how to coexist with Coyotes