Weeks after a small dog had to be put to sleep after it was seriously injured in a coyote attack, Wheaton officials have agreed to take steps to cull the city’s coyote population.
City council members decided Monday to seek prices from several licensed trappers to begin a citywide effort to capture and euthanize coyotes.
Traditionally, Wheaton and other municipalities have used public awareness campaigns to educate residents on how to coexist with coyotes.
The biggest piece of advice has been to never feed or get close to the animals.
But Wheaton officials say the number of coyotes has risen significantly. And despite efforts to educate the public, the coyote problem has reached “a nuisance level” in the city.
City Manager Don Rose said he believes a culling program “might go a long way toward reducing the nuisance factors.”
“I am not convinced that it’s going to cure the problem and remove all the coyotes from the community,” Rose said. “But it should help in reducing the number of some of the problems that we’ve been experiencing.”
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