All quiet on Lincoln’s coyote front: After fielding nearly 50 reports of the animals lurking around Holmes Lake earlier this summer, Lincoln Animal Control hasn’t heard anything for more than two weeks.
“Things have calmed down on the coyote scene,†director Steve Beal said.
Beal and his department were busy early last month, taking about a dozen reports a week of urban coyotes. Most were spotted between the Holmes Lake dam and 78th Street and Pioneers Boulevard — an area that includes the lake, Rickman’s Run dog park and the Billy Wolff Trail.
Based on all the reports, Beal believes the area is home to three coyotes: A shorter animal that lives west of the dam; and two living southeast of the dog run, one darker, one lighter.
The coyotes didn’t attack humans or pets, but nearby homeowners reported aggressive behavior for the normally reclusive animals, including coyotes following them along the bike trail and trying to get into fenced yards to go after small dogs.
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Even after the reports tapered, Animal Control officers have continued their twice-daily checks of the area. But they recently started making their early morning patrols on bicycle, and an officer has spotted several coyotes, chasing one down the Billy Wolff Trail until it disappeared into the trees.
That was strategic, Beal said. Residents need to do all they can to make coyotes feel unwelcome.
“We’re hoping the hazing is something that will keep them from being less curious,†he said. “And make them less comfortable in that habitat area they’re in.â€
The best long-term solution would be to run them back out of town, he said.
That’s the opposite approach Hastings took earlier this summer, after a family reported a coyote tried to attack a 1-year-old boy during a July 4 family gathering. Within days, Hastings officials contracted with the USDA’s Wildlife Services.
Federal exterminators found and gassed three dens, two on the northwest edge of town, one on the southwest. It’s unclear if any animals were inside at the time, said Hastings Police Sgt. Brian Hessler.
“But we have not been getting calls or reports of coyotes in the recent past, and we’re taking that to mean we’ve dealt with the situation,†he said.