Residents in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood say coyotes are roaming their streets and moving into their backyards.
Ephraim Lindenbaum said he sees coyotes in his backyard almost daily and even had four charge him at one point. He now carries a hockey stick whenever he goes out on his deck.
“There’s concerns about just going out,” he said. “We see them on a regular basis.”
Others are concerned about their pets, especially after a coyote killed a neighbor’s cat.
On Wednesday, a Santa Clara County vector control technician conducted a coyote inspection at two Willow Glen homes.
Andrew Garcia with vector control said the agency has received several reports of coyotes in Willow Glen and near Hamilton Avenue, but removing the wild animals isn’t on the table.
“We don’t trap or catch coyotes,” he said. “We don’t relocate them. Mainly our district’s policy is to give advice.”
That advice to residents includes making sure property is unappealing to a coyote.
“Make sure that you don’t have a food source, a water source, a place on your property that can serve as a den site,” Garcia said.
Cats should be kept indoors, vector control recommended, and residents walking small dogs should pick their pets up, raise their arms above their head and make loud noises if they spot a coyote.