Coyotes killing pets in Cortez, residents say

CORTEZ -- When Linda Molto’s black cat, Malcolm, went missing in March, she assumed neighborhood teenagers were to blame.

It wasn’t until six months later, when she heard her black-and-beige spotted kitten, Wahoo, cry out in pain and noticed trampled vegetation in her backyard, that she identified a more likely culprit.

The Cortez fishing village resident says her neighborhood has been overrun by coyotes since early October. They have killed an estimated 57 family pets, including two of Molto’s cats, she said.

“People are very upset about this,” Molto, a Cortez resident for 27 years, said Thursday from her home on 124th Street West. “Almost everybody out here has lost at least one cat or dog. ... It’s horrible. We’ve never had anything like this happen in Cortez.”

Molto said her neighbors have seen coyotes roaming the village in the early-morning hours. She said one resident has lost four cats, recovering only the paws of one of the cats.

Michael Northfield, a Toronto native who has lived in Cortez for 10 years, said he and his wife, Caroline, lost a Manx cat about six weeks ago. He said the cat moved slowly and would have been easy prey for a coyote.

“We put photographs around the neighborhood, but we started hearing about what’s happening in other parts of the village. We gave up hope at that point,” Northfield said.

Cortez residents have sought help from local government agencies. They will discuss the coyote problem with representatives of Manatee County, the sheriff’s office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at a workshop at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Old Schoolhouse.

Lisa Hickey, a certified Florida master naturalist from the county department of agriculture and resource conservation, will lead the workshop. She said she dealt with a similar coyote problem about 18 months ago in Palma Sola and gets occasional calls from livestock owners in East Manatee.

“They’ve been here (in Florida) since the 1950s,” Hickey said of coyotes. “We’re boxing them into areas because of development.”

Coyotes are drawn to residential areas when they have easy access to small pets, pet food and trash, according to Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

“The attacking of pets is more common in urban and suburban areas than it is in rural areas,” Morse said. “Farmers and ranchers tend to know how to deal with things like that.”

Morse recommended residents erect 5-foot fences around their property or keep pets inside and put trash out in the early morning instead of the night before.

“Generally, coyotes are not a danger to humans,” Morse said. “What we recommend, if you’re walking a pet and you’re confronted by a coyote is to simply pick the pet up and stand up. That’s usually enough to deter the coyote.”

Molto said there is a fence in the back of her property, but coyotes gain entrance from the sides. She said it would be impractical to put a fence all the way around her home.

Molto said Cortez is home to a large number of stray cats because owners from other areas often dump them in the village.

Coyotes are not a protected species in Florida, which means they can be shot or trapped. Most trappers and conservation groups are unwilling to snare coyotes, though, because state law prohibits their relocation. They must be euthanized if caught.

Of course, firing a gun in a residential area like Cortez is against the law. Still, Molto is considering drastic measures to protect her remaining five cats.

“I told my neighbor I think I’m going to get a gun,” Molto said. “Nobody in Cortez would say anything if they heard a gunshot.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Coyotes killing pets in Cortez, residents say."