Weird and irresponsible

[krissyk]

So I got an email this morning form my neighbor 2 doors down in Reynoldstown asking if I had ever heard of Coyotes in the area. She is currently fostering a 6 week old rescue of Whitnerd's and had the following to say:

"I was walking Daisy early this morning and a coyote jumped out from the bushes.  It was scared and luckily ran away from us, but it definitely freaked me out.  Roommate said he will call DNR and ask them to lay out traps.  Have we had this problem in the neighborhood before?  What do you guys think would be the best way to address this?"

The roommate called DNR and this was their response:

"Um talked to dnr. The commissioner told me that they have a policy not to do anything because they get thousands of complaints in the metro area and don't have the man power. He said he can give me some private companies. Unofficially, He also suggested using antifreeze to lace some hot dogs and leave them out for the coyotes. Will kill in under an hour.  I am calling the Fulton commissioners and city council this afternoon"

So my questions are A) wasn't there a coyote issue in EAV at one point? Who did you call / how did you handle and B) How do we address the IDIOT at DNR who recommends laying out anti-freeze laced hotdogs to kill unsuspecting neighbor's cats, dogs, innocent animals and possibly homeless people???

[figurama]

Uh oh, Pickles is not going to be happy about being grounded.

[enduser]

Wow, that's not how I expected that reply to go.

[mellamur]

Dear Assclown,

Antifreeze will kill more than coyotes. Possibly rodents, cats, children, birds, and who knows what else? Your advice is reckless and irresponsible. If you employ such tactics to rid your neighborhood of wild animals I hope that you spill a little extra antifreeze in your coffee.

yours truly,
KVK

[Andreas]

That is wholly irresponsible.  I dare say that if we can get recorded audio of them making a suggestion like this, they will lose their job. 

[smiley]

Damn!  Atnifreeze?  That is a real shitty way to treat an animal.  If I were going to kill it I'd rather shoot it than poison it.  Of course in the city, that isn't an option...

Farmers and ranchers will shoot them as they can be bad about killing livestock like goats and sheep.  There have been several reports of them in the city

[Drayvin]

Who is this epitome of assholiness and which TV reporter on here wants to let this giant hotdogantifreezeladen bomb out of the bag?

[SteveD]

That's bizarre.  Amazing that a public official would make such a reckless suggestion.

Not to mention anyone following that boneheaded advice could face criminal charges if a person or domesticated animal got sick or worse eating their poison-laced hot dog. 

[Mudd]

I have heard of Coyotes being seen in Reynoldstown (back when I used to read the yahoo threads). I can't imagine what idiot would come up with the idea of using antifreeze though...

[krissyk]

I KNOW! And from the Department of Natural Resources no less! I am going to get additional info from her roommate tonight. I mean, just DAMN.

Further to the point though, it concerns me terribly that this coyote was in the bushes by her front door! And we live on a fairly busy road. What if it just snatched up that little pup, or her roommate's Min-Pin? Or we get a rabid one? There must be other options. 

[Tvshooter]

Get the name of the asshat who said use antifreeze. There is no "unofficially" telling you this. You are not a reporter doing an interview.If the words come out of his mouth while on the state phone, from his office, it's official.

Yes there are coyotes as far as Dunwoody. I caught one Sunday night while trying to trap a dog over by the Cox Media building on Peachtree Dunwoody. Coyotes will usually leave you alone and are looking for prey that is their size or smaller. They are damn cute and will damn sure rip your finger or hand off if you get to close. If you encounter just one, you are okay with scaring it....it's when they are in a pack that they will attack animals larger than them.

Any dog trap with cat food or chicken will trap them. However once you trap it, you have to get rid of it.

[ManBearPig]

This is why your incredibly good looking husband carries.  There is an Old Atlanta Prison Farm hike this Saturday and after seeing the amount of Coyote scat there last time I am damn sure not going back there unarmed. 

[Opti1]

Call the Dekalb County Animal Control. In their recorded message, they specifically mention what number to press if you encounter coyotes (I assume it's the same for Fulton County).

I was kind of distracted and I don't listen to most of the automation, so I don't remember whether it was "press 7 now" or "dial 911", but it's common enough to have the gubmint involved.

[vigodas-pants]

There have been coyotes reported around here before, but it turns out they were wild dogs. See here:
http://www.eavbuzz.net/forum/public-safety/2-twin-loose-and-aggressive-black-dogs-in-ormewood-park/

Not that this wasn't a coyote. Animal Control will respond to wild dogs, but not coyotes.

[Flower Lady]

I called wildlife a few years ago as there were deer on our street. They were NOT very helpful, (and did not say anything stupid, like antifreeze) - but did say that humans displace wildlife, and much of it is such that we need to learn to co-exist, that there is simply no place for it to go when developers move in, and sometimes it gets pushed into residential areas but there is no reason why it should not exist.
I realize this is a coyote and not a deer, but there's a point there - be careful. Luckily you are a sane person and know that putting out antifreeze in a hotdog is stupid. Can you imagine if someone followed that moronic advice?