New Website Allows You To Track Killer Coyotes In Your Neighborhood
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The number of coyote sightings and attacks are on the rise in LA and Orange County.
Some neighborhoods are fed up.
CBS2's Erica Mandy reports some researchers have come up with a new tool they hope will help.
She reported from Valencia where some coyotes have killed people's pets.
"I think I was in shock," said Lyanne Wong.
She came home to find her three dogs -- Toby, Wiley and Cookie -- all dead. They were mauled and partially eaten in her back yard.
"I knew right away from a coyote attack," Wong said.
She said she's seen Facebook postings from her Valencia neighborhood about many coyote sightings in the past few weeks. Sometimes two or three coyotes at a time, even during the day.
Wong also had neighbors whose pets had been attacked.
"The same feeling that I have, they're afraid of going out, they're afraid of letting their dogs out. They're afraid of walking with their kids," Wong said.
She told Mandy she's intrigued by a new research project that uses a website called "Coyote Cacher" spelled C-A-C-H-E-R.
Researchers with the University of California say the site will collect better data about coyotes for agencies around the state.
The site will also provide real-time neighborhood alerts and a map of recent sightings and attacks.
"We can't be outside all the time to see what's happening, so we rely on the people of California to tell us what really is going on," sayd Dr. Niamh Quinn, a Human-Wildlife Interactions advisor.
Researchers say there h's been a rise in coyote interactions with pets and humans.
Mandy report coyotes have already bitten at least four people just in the last couple of months in Southern California.
And LA and Orange counties have been the hot spots for activity.
"Just this year it has popped up ten times more than I've ever seen it before," says Wong.
She plans to tell her neighbors about Coyote Cacher
"We don't want something to happen to kids to have someone to come out to do something, That'd be too late," Wong says.
To learn more about Coyote Cacher, or to sign up, click here.
