Coyote Encounters Growing on Twin Falls Streets

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I was driving on Blue Lakes Boulevard heading north.  I turned onto Highland Avenue and then came to a full stop.  It was just after 8 a.m. Saturday and with the sun in my eyes, I came to a full stop.  An animal was trotting directly at me.  A coyote.  It looked at me as it kept heading toward the Boulevard and then rounded the corner at the bridge.

Look, I realize coyotes aren’t unusual in the city.  You can hear them howling in the distance after sunset.  You can sometimes see them in the business district and residential neighborhoods.  What struck me on Saturday was how calm the coyote remained after he saw me.  He was nonchalant as he just kept ambling along.

They’ve become acclimated.  We’re seeing them lose fear.  Idaho Fish and Game has issued warnings about some of them becoming more and more aggressive.  An animal control officer told me a few years ago that the population of feral cats in Twin Falls had significantly been reduced by coyotes.  Now they’ll spend more of their efforts targeting domestic pets.

Already considered a public nuisance, what are we going to do when they boldly start tracking kids going to and from school?

We must redouble efforts at culling the population and consider new methods for eradicating them from city limits.  The latter is likely impossible but we need to consider that we can’t become prisoners in our own homes because of a nuisance now turned health threat.

I realize there’s a small portion of the public that will counsel coexistence.  The same tree-hugging crowd will insist we’re the ones interloping.  Tell that to someone with children stalked in their backyard!