Rye officials formally announce coyote kill • 08.10.10
Three days after it was revealed on Facebook the City of Rye captured its first coyote since two attacks on little girls, city officials formally announced the catch and kill.
A 40-pound coyote was found around 3 p.m. on July 31 near North Street in a humane, rubberized leg-hold trap, Police Commissioner William Connors said in a news release Monday night.
The coyote was then euthanized.
Connors also defended the decision not to disclose the capture to the public. The trapper did not want the scent at the location to be disturbed, he said.
“Wildlife experts uniformly say that it is extraordinarily difficult to trap coyotes during the summer; since Mr. Horton had success with this location, we were obligated to preserve it for as long as possible,” he said in the release. “Contamination of the area would have eliminated that opportunity.”
The commissioner noted that sightings have dropped dramatically since July 26, with two sightings reported on Aug. 3. The city will continue trapping and hunting coyotes, which has been the strategy suggested by the state Department of Environmental Conservation officials, Connors said.
People are still being cautioned to carefully watch small children outdoors.
(Police Commissioner William Connors addresses the media at police headquarters in Rye June 30, 2010. A 3 year-old girl was attacked June 29 by a coyote in her yard at 80 North street. It was the second coyote attack within a week. ( Matthew Brown / The Journal News )
Rye coyote attacks: Public forum Thursday • 06.30.10
Via our Rye reporter Theresa Juva:
A public forum will be held with the city council of the City of Rye on Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the council room of City Hall.
There will be an update on coyote incidents and a presentation by Kevin Clarke of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
See today’s latest update on the Rye coyote attacks here.
