No one will be shooting coyotes in Salina – at least, not yet.
The Salina Town Board announced at its April 23 meeting that it would take no action that night in the controversial matter of a request to approve a temporary exception to the prohibition of the use of firearms in Scottsdale Farms, where coyotes had been spotted. Residents had asked that the restrictions be lifted to that they could hire a wildlife control agent to dispose of the animals. Instead, a new public hearing has been scheduled for the town board’s next meeting May 14.
“The public hearing we had at the last meeting revolved around a crossbow or a bow and arrow, which, as we found at that meeting, is not an effective means to accomplish what those neighbors wanted,” said Supervisor Mark Nicotra. “We have to call another public hearing for the use of a shotgun. We’re erring on the side of caution here. We want to be as transparent as possible and provide as much information within the law that we can.”
Earlier Monday, wildlife control agent Elise Abel gave a presentation to town residents on coyotes. She was invited to speak by the Animal Alliance of Greater Syracuse.
“Right now you don’t have a coyote problem, but if you hire someone to shoot coyotes, you are going to have a coyote problem,” Abel said.
Abel noted that the old expression “nature abhors a vacuum” applies to coyotes; if the alpha couple is killed, more will come in to fill the void. She said a food source like garbage or a compost pile is likely drawing the animals to the neighborhood. The town’s first step should be getting rid of that, not the coyotes themselves.
“The solution to Salina’s coyote problem is education and coexistence,” Abel said. “Your community has been infused with fear and misinformation.”
Abel said she and a friend who is coyote biologist from Maine are willing to help the town to formulate a program, free of charge.
Nicotra was among those in attendance at Monday afternoon’s presentation.
“It was educational to hear that side,” he said. “A lot of it, I had heard over the last few weeks. Certainly, you pick up something new every time. It’s always good to get as much information as possible.”
At the board meeting, a number of residents also spoke on the issue, most against the idea of relaxing the firearms prohibition.
“I think that this thing has been blown out of proportion,” said Adele Durham of Oak Ridge Terrace. “This is what happens in the animal kingdom. Dogs kill dogs. Dogs kill cats. I don’t understand why you’re going to let a man come on your property and let him start shooting at coyotes when it’s done nothing to a human being.”
Resident Robert Goodfellow of Fruitwood Drive pointed out that the likelihood of being attacked by a coyote was extremely low.
“There’s only one reported injury where the person went and got treatment in the United States, and that was in 2010,” Goodfellow said. “If that in the town of Salina, out of 33,710 people, only one would have been injured in 2010. You’re more likely to speak Cherokee. You’re more likely to die in your bathtub. You’re more likely to win an Academy Award. And you’re just as likely to have your underwear spontaneously combust.”
But Laurie Turton of Scottsdale Circle, who had originally approached the town about relaxing the law so that she and her neighbors could hire a trapper to eliminate the coyotes, said she and her neighbors were hardly overreacting.
“I contacted the DEC, and I’m doing what they told me to do,” Turton said. “They told me to go the route of shooting the coyotes.”
Turton cautioned that people would feel differently if something did happen.
“If something does happen, everybody that’s talking about this is going to have to go home at night and go to sleep knowing that if something happens to a child or adult, injured or, worst case, dead, this was brought up and they could have done something about it,” she said.
Second Ward Councilor V. James Magnarelli said he understood both sides of the issue.
“Convincing the board is one thing,” Magnarelli said. “Convincing the neighbors of Scottsdale Circle is another. We represent all of the taxpayers in the town, and these people do feel like they live in fear, and we do have to understand their concern.”
