Sunday, May 11, 2008

Coyote attacks..........

In the September 21, 2006 issue of The Alpharetta-Roswell REVUE & News a news writer by the name of Bob Pepalis wrote an article titled “Coyotes roam Alpharetta streets”.

Having been misquoted many times over the course of my business career I can attest to the often-times misquote by writers unfamiliar with subject matter. What I think should be corrected and for correct information to be disseminated to the taxpayers of Georgia is the quote attributed to a Mr. Dan McGowan, at that time a senior wildlife biologist with the GA DNR.

As a Life Member of three state trapping organizations, MN, TN and GA I can easily show that there have been attacks on children by coyotes in the United States. A quick GOOGLE check using “coyote attacks on humans” or “coyote attacks on children” will bring up several items showing that coyotes have killed children in the United States. In fact, I was living in southern California when a 3-year old baby was drug off of the drive-way, dying of puncture wounds to the upper body. Perhaps Mr. McGowan should have been quoted as talking about documented coyote attacks in the state of Georgia.

Why the writer would call coyotes a “western” animal leaves much to be desired if he had done any research on the history of the coyote in North America. Indigenous to Georgia I can only surmise that coyotes are found in all counties in the state. I know that coyotes are found within a mile of the newspaper offices because I see them in my neighborhood and would be happy to assist in the trapping of coyotes in North Fulton or Forsyth County.

I have taken a large number of coyotes (and fox) 0ver the years in many states and would welcome any attempt by anyone to help abolish (rid) the antiquated North Georgia NO-raccoon trapping law off the books.

http://www.varmintal.com/attac.htm

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif.- May 8, 2008 — A coyote grabbed a 2-year-old girl by the head and tried to drag her from the front yard of her mountain home in the third incident of a coyote threatening a small child in Southern California in five days, authorities said.

The coyote attacked the girl around noon Tuesday when her mother, Melissa Rowley, went inside the home for a moment to put away a camera, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in an incident report.

Rowley came out of the house and saw the coyote dragging her daughter towards a street. She ran towards her daughter, and the animal released the girl and ran away, said sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.

Rowley took her daughter to a hospital where the toddler was treated for several punctures to the head and neck area, and a laceration on her mouth. She was then flown to Loma Linda University Hospital for further treatment, although her injuries were not life-threatening.

State Fish and Game wardens and county animal control authorities set traps for the coyote and were monitoring the neighborhood high in the San Bernardino Mountains about 65 miles miles northeast of Los Angeles.

On Friday, a nanny pulled a 2-year-old girl from the jaws of a coyote at Alterra Park in Chino Hills, a San Bernardino County community about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The girl suffered puncture wounds to her buttocks and was treated at a hospital.

A coyote came after another toddler in the same park Sunday. The child's father kicked and chased the coyote away.

Alterra Park is near Chino Hills State Park, a natural open space of thousands of acres spanning nearly 31 miles.

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