A state wildlife biologist says the best way for residents in a Bangor neighborhood to get rid of their coyotes is to remove food sources, not trap or hunt them.
Residents in Bangor’s Fairmount neighborhood, near the Bangor Municipal Golf Course, are afraid because coyotes have been spotted in the residential area several times in recent months. Now, they’re considering how to rid themselves of the animals.
Many neighbors believe the coyotes are responsible for the dozens of cats that have gone missing in the area since last summer. They’re now concerned that the coyotes pose a risk to other pets, or even to people.
The discussion, which has unfolded on social media, centers around whether the group should call in professionals to hunt the animals, or trap and remove them.
Keel Kemper, a regional wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife who covers central Maine, said trapping and hunting coyotes is extremely difficult because they’re intelligent. Even if a coyote is successfully killed or removed, new coyotes will fill their place if there’s food available in the area.
If residents want coyotes to leave, the first step should be removing all food sources from their properties, including relocating pet food and garbage inside, Kemper said. Bird feeders also attract coyotes, because small mammals, such as rats, voles and squirrels, eat the seeds that fall on the ground, then coyotes come to prey on the animals.
Coyotes will look for food at any time of the day and are opportunists, meaning they’ll eat what’s available and move on when there’s none to be found. They’ve been known to munch on everything from small mammals to fruits and berries when they’re in season.
Additionally, Keel said neighbors shouldn’t let their pets, including cats, outside alone, especially at night.
“When people let their cats just roam outside, that’s not terribly responsible cat ownership because cats will kill things left and right,” Kemper said. “When you let your cat wander, you’ve let it go into the food chain. It’s a predator, but it’s also prey.”
The city’s animal control officer is responsible for addressing complaints about domesticated animals in Bangor. Coyotes and other wild animals fall under the jurisdiction of game wardens and regional wildlife biologists at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Residents can also enlist the help of Animal Damage Control Cooperators — ADC agents — to resolve conflicts with wildlife around their homes.
ADC agent Doug Tibbetts said trapping a coyote wouldn’t be “necessary or feasible,” in part because a cat or other animal would likely be caught in a live trap before a coyote.
Additionally, Tibbetts, who worked as a game warden for 39 years, doesn’t believe coyotes are responsible for the missing cats.
“Coyotes would have a difficult time catching a cat because cats can climb and get in small holes and coyotes can’t,” Tibbetts said. “Coyotes are easy to blame, but I don’t think it’s them.”
The lack of physical evidence of cats being attacked outside, such as blood left behind, leads Tibbetts to believe a human is responsible for at least some of the disappearances.
“Wild animals aren’t that covert,” Tibbetts said. “If they kill a cat, there’d be some sign of where a cat was killed, especially with the snow.”
Nicholas May, who has lived in the Fairmound neighborhood for two and a half years, lost one of his cats, Morty, several months ago. He believes a coyote is responsible.
Morty, who was an indoor cat, snuck out unnoticed one evening when May was bringing items into his house. Early the next morning, around 2:30 a.m., a loud screeching noise similar to a cat fight woke him up.
When May discovered that Morty wasn’t in the house, he investigated the noise and believes he saw the end of an animal tail entering the woods. May looked for Morty, or evidence that he’d been attacked, the following morning, but never found anything.
“I wanted to at least find Morty’s collar,” May said.
May said he has seen a coyote in his backyard four times, each time around sunset, within the last six months. It’s unclear whether it’s the same animal each time, or different members of a pack.
May has a license to hunt coyotes with his bow, but has never taken on the challenge. He said he’d like something to be done about the animals to prevent more cats from going missing, though he’s not sure whether he wants the coyotes to be moved or killed.
“There are pros and cons to every option, and I oscillate between them,” May said.
Martha Gladstone, who has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years, said she has seen coyotes in the area for years and set up a game camera in her backyard to watch the wildlife. Whenever she sees them, Gladstone said the animals look healthy and unthreatening.
Gladstone, who has dogs and cats of her own, said she understands why people are worried about the coyotes, especially as they reportedly jump fences and get close to people’s homes. She’d like to learn more about the animals and whether their behavior is dangerous before asking someone to remove or kill them.
“We’re the ones that have encroached on their property,” Gladstone said. “My feeling is we need to learn to live with them.”
Gladstone may be right. The Bangor Municipal Golf Course, which borders the Fairmount neighborhood, has allowed nearly seven acres of land to return to its natural state as a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses.
“By ceasing management of these non-playing areas, we have reduced carbon emissions, fertilizer and pesticide use, and created several natural habitats for rodents and small mammals to thrive,” the golf course’s website reads.
Rodents and small mammals are prime food sources for coyotes.
Neither May nor Gladstone have heard accounts of someone witnessing a coyote killing a cat or seeing the animal with a cat in its mouth.
“I can’t honestly say this one is a nuisance if we can’t say 100 percent this is the cat thief,” Gladstone said. “I don’t want people to show up here with their bows, guns and claw traps thinking they’re helping the neighborhood. I think the state biologist needs to make the decision.”
If Fairmount residents are looking for other ways to deter coyotes after removing food sources, Kemper suggested playing a radio tuned to a talk station outside, because coyotes generally stay away from human voices. Loud sounds, such as an air horn, will also work in an emergency.
“Coyotes have learned that nothing good comes from humans in Maine because we hunt them 365 days a year,” Kemper said.
Above all, Kemper said residents should not be scared to walk their dogs or allow their children to play outside because the chances of a coyote attack are “infinitesimally small.”
“Do not change your lifestyle for fear that a coyote will come and attack you,” Kemper said. “If you’re scared, you can carry a whistle. It’s very easy to scare off a coyote.”
