School works to protect livestock from coyotes

In the past five months, Canyon State Academy in Queen Creek has lost three goats and four sheep to coyotes, and over the past few years more than 70 chickens have become meals for the predators, too.

The school’s 4-H adviser, Kenn Tormala, is concerned about Canyon State’s losses but is also worried that livestock and pets in the wider Queen Creek community could become targets.

“I know this is a natural thing, but this could be a bigger problem in the future,” Tormala said. “With all the construction going on, coyote dens have been removed, and so have their hunting areas. ... Because our animals are in pens, they’ve become a target.”

Tormala has been working with students at Canyon State to install more lighting around the pens to ward off the hungry beasts that tend to target the area early in the morning. He has also been e-mailing local 4-H groups about the problem so that people can be on the lookout for coyotes.

Last weekend, the program lost its latest animal — a black-bellied ewe. Canyon State Academy’s livestock is donated or rescued, and some of the animals are used as school mascots, Tormala said.

“I wasn’t concerned when they were taking chickens,” Tormala said. “But when you lose three registered grand champion pygmy goats, and other major animals, I start to get upset.”

Unless the animal is a “problem animal,” the Arizona Game and Fish Department won’t come to remove it, said Darren Julian, urban wildlife specialist for the department.

“People think we will come get it, but we only get involved if there is a public safety issue,” he said. “If they are problem animals, then it’s lethal removal. It’s not something we want to do, but we’re not going to take a problem and put it somewhere else in the state.”

Julian said he continues to see an increase in coyote sightings in developing areas.

“Certainly in the Queen Creek area there has been development, and that may go hand in hand. Coyotes get displaced with construction going on,” Julian said. “Development is also creating green spaces and available, abundant water that prey items are attracted to — squirrels, rabbits. If you have prey in your area, you’re going to see predators.”

Julian said Queen Creek residents need to guard livestock and pets against coyotes.

“They’re opportunistic, and if there is an easy or abundant meal source, they’re going to go for it,” Julian said. “With the exception of downtown (Phoenix) I don’t know any part of the Valley where there haven’t been coyote sightings.”

Small pets are particularly vulnerable, not only to coyotes but also birds of prey such as owls and hawks.

Doggie doors are a great convenience, but the more times a small pet is left out, the higher probability of something happening to it, Julian said. “People need to treat small pets as if they were your small kids: Keep your eye on them.”

When it comes to livestock or penned animals, Julian said unless they are in an enclosed structure, they are at risk.

“People can use guard animals such as big dogs, donkeys or llamas,” Julian said. “They can also use a secure fence with low-voltage wire. The best thing is a 6-foot fence with barbed wire coming out from the fence at a 45-degree angle.”

For more information on wildlife in urban areas, visit www.azgfd.gov/urbanwildlife.

Tormala said he will continue to make people aware of coyotes.

“I think what we need to do is get public awareness about this in this part of the Valley,” he said. “There hasn’t been a lot said about it out here in the Johnson Ranch and Queen Creek area. It’s one of those things. As the city continues to grow, the coyotes don’t have any place else to go to.”