City of Quincy ILLINOIS

Coyotes

The Quincy Police Department is providing the following information in an effort to inform the citizens of the City of Quincy regarding matters relating to coyotes and the response rendered by our animal control officers in addressing the problem.

We also seek your assistance in this matter.  The department has received several complaints associated with the perceived problems attributed to coyotes.  The Quincy Police Department has consulted with the Illinois Department of Conservation in an effort to address coyotes and problems related to them within the confines of the City of Quincy.

There have been several complaints of coyote sightings in the area of the Quincy Country Club Golf Course and neighboring areas.  We received one report from a citizen who observed a coyote carrying something in its mouth, which appeared to be a kitten or a cat.  We have received no reports of missing pets as a result of a coyote attack.  With the information provided by employees of the Quincy Country Club as well area residents, the animal control officers contacted the Illinois Department of Conservation who have statutory authority in wild animal matters.  They advised us that we had three options in addressing the coyote problems.  The first option was live animal trapping.  The second, leg hold traps.  Lastly, shooting the animals.  We were advised not to attempt to poison the animals, due to the fact that poison results in a number of other animals being killed.

The City of Quincy does not normally employ the use of leg hold traps due to the fact that they injure the animal.  We have also learned that people were jogging on the golf course and some of them had their dogs running with them.  We also have had past reports of children playing on the Country Club and our concern was that the leg-hold traps, may inadvertently cause injury to a child or a person’s pet so for us this was not a viable action.

That left us with two options.  Live animal trapping and shooting the animals.  We set live animal traps in an effort to humanely capture the coyotes, however since coyotes typically do not enter live animal traps we were unsuccessful in capturing any of the coyotes.

We have surveyed other communities about this type of problem and have received information from those communities where coyotes have been sighted or have been a problem that police officers have actually gone into nonresidential areas in an effort to hunt the animals down.  The evidence and theories that we are operating under are that there is one or more den sites, some possibly along Curtis Creek.  With the exception of Country Club property itself, the areas surrounding it and particularly along Curtis Creek are residential, which makes hunting them a difficult task.

A wild life biologist with the state informed us that while the coyote may travel through residential areas, they avoid humans out of fear.  They rarely go after dogs and cats for food, preferring instead the desired diet of frogs, rodents, and rabbits.  Coyote will run with dogs, running at large or in parks.  Generally, they are not considered dangerous to humans, unless they are ill.  They will come up into yards looking for food such as dog food that is left out, for example.  Coyote find adequate food, particularly during this time of year, in the wild.

We will continue to monitor the problem and would appreciate a report of any sighting of coyotes.  It would be helpful to know the date, time, location and direction of travel.  This information will help us identify a pattern and locate them.  You may contact the animal control officers at (217) 228-4470.  If you see a coyote and it is either injured, appears sick or in an area that it cannot escape, please contact 911 by using its non-emergency number and request an animal control officer to come to the scene.

Please be assured that the City of Quincy is very concerned with the safety and welfare of its citizens and their pets.  Coyote problems are one of those animal control challenges that many communities face.  The coyote’s instincts and physical viability makes it a very difficult animal to apprehend, short of destroying them.  Doing so in a human way without endangering other citizens in the process is a challenge.  You may assist us by not having pet food outside, not feeding the coyote, by reporting sightings, and not allowing dogs to run at large.  Your cooperation and support is greatly appreciated.