Coyote concerns arise in Mequon
By Jeff Rumage
Mequon — Coyotes have long been a fact of life in Mequon, but when Jenny Herro lost her 14-year-old dog Sprockett to a coyote attack two weeks ago, she decided enough is enough.
Herro said she anticipated a problem with coyotes long before Sprockett was found dead with wounds on his neck and stomach on the east side of Mequon's Milwaukee Area Technical College campus. When she first noticed the coyote was stalking her dog, she said she called the police, who told her to call the Department of Natural Resources, which told her to haze or trap the coyotes.
When she said she wasn't interested in trapping the coyotes, the DNR told her to call a trapping association. She then said she was referred to the United States Department of Agriculture, which then referred her back to the DNR. Eventually, she became exhausted by the lack of options at her disposal.
"There are a lot of people who don't want to learn how to fire a gun, learn how to trap or learn how to shoot (a bow)," she said at a Mequon Common Council meeting Tuesday, Nov. 11. "We need to do something about this."
The DNR advises homeowners to trap coyotes or haze them by making loud noises. Herro said hazing no longer works because coyotes no longer fear humans.
"They are becoming increasingly domestic," she said. "They are not afraid of us like they should be."
Herro was one of six people who shared concerns about coyotes at the council meeting.
Patti Schulz was one of four Haddonstone Place residents who reported regular coyote sightings in her neighborhood. She said a coyote bit her 65-pound dog Jeffrey in August, which made him more skittish and aggressive. Now she walks Jeffrey on a leash while carrying a golf club in her other hand.
"He wasn't killed, but he was definitely changed by that experience," she said.
A couple weeks after her dog was bit, Schulz said several coyotes came tearing through her yard, howling "like they were on a wild rampage."
"They just thought they owned this area, and you know what? They do. They own Mequon right now, and it's wrong," she said. "What's it going to take for some action to be taken?"
Mequon's Public Welfare Committee discussed coyotes during its meeting Tuesday night and plans to discuss the issue again at a future meeting, Alderman Dale Mayr said.
Brenda Quick, who lives on Pine Ridge Place, said her pet was also bit by a coyote. She said a number of her friends in Mequon also have stories about coyotes, and she encouraged city officials to take action.
"Soon it will be a young child, and we'll all be sorry we didn't do something," she said.
.jpg){kind=logo}
.jpg)
Lucia has suggested we have a food drive to help out at local food pantries that are in need over the holidays. 
