The residents of Mar Vista are convinced they are being watched.
And Jennifer Bedolla knows who it is: the pack of coyotes she frequently catches roaming her yard and who leave carcasses of neighbor’s pets around her home.
In previous years, coyotes occasionally wandered through the area in the evenings. But this year, things are different as the pack has grown bolder, with coyotes following people around while they walk their dogs and pouncing on pets and children.
“They’ve become more aggressive,” Bedolla said. “They’re not afraid of humans at all. They’ll get on your back, bump into you, and not run away.”
The official response from the City of Los Angeles, according to an information campaign run in neighborhoods, is that residents can clear bushes around their homes, bang pots and pans to ward off coyotes, and overall co-exist with wild animals.
Frustrated residents of the community, located west of Culver City, believe L.A. officials don’t understand their situation.
They say the usual methods don’t work for them. Animal experts advise anyone who encounters a coyote to wave their arms, yell and make themselves look as big as possible, but these coyotes are not timid around their human neighbors.
Every day, the howls and screams of coyotes erupt into a wild cacophony across the hills.
Bedolla said a coyote attacked her 11-year-old son while he was playing soccer in their backyard with several other coyotes watching. She often takes her 9-year-old Maltese-poodle mix, Zola, with her when they go out for their weekly walks because coyotes have made the neighborhood their territory.
Many pet dogs and cats have gone missing.
“I’ve cleared a lot of pets out of my yard,” she said. “Just piles of fur and carcasses.”
Jennifer Bedolla stands on a top-level patio in her backyard, which is filled with very brazen coyotes in Mar Vista. Bedolla recently saw 16 coyotes in her backyard.
(Gina Ferrazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Experts say coyotes are opportunistic as predators, their diet consisting of insects, birds and, in suburban areas, human feces. They are attracted to the scent of food on a person’s clothing and over the years have learned to live closer to people.
For some residents, the location is a little too close for comfort.
But figuring out how they can find relief — and who can help them — isn’t so easy.
One resident turned to the L.A. County Agricultural Commissioner’s Bureau of Weights and Measures for help after the frightening encounter.
Bureau Chief Deputy Maximiliano Regis said that on March 29, about 11 p.m., a man walking his dog in Mar Vista spotted a group of coyotes.
“The coyote stopped, looked at (the person) and then started making some type of yelling or screaming noises,” Regis said.
The dog began barking in response and the resident fled, thinking they were about to be attacked. The person called Vets and Measures to investigate, and in early April an inspector found a female coyote and four to five puppies living in a den nearby.
Regis said the female coyote was likely taking her babies out to hunt. But according to Regis, this den is within the Los Angeles city limits, and it’s up to the city to decide what to do next.
Los Angeles Animal Services coordinates with various agencies on wildlife within city limits, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The city says the state agency manages the coyote population, but a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said the agency does not manage coyotes but provides information about coyotes to local jurisdictions and the public.
Coyotes at Jennifer Bedolla’s home in Mar Vista. One expert says coyotes’ behavior is tied to pupping season.
(Jennifer Bedolla)
“Wildlife officers will respond to attacks, but it is up to local agencies to deal with coyotes in their communities,” a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said.
L.A. Animal Services did not respond to follow-up questions about the city’s response to the coyote population. But in a statement, the agency said it held an online community meeting with City Council Member Tracy Park’s office, as well as Fish and Wildlife, to educate residents about “preventive and property maintenance.”
According to a statement from LA Animal Services, the agency also holds its own monthly information sessions “that teach how to safely coexist with wildlife, as well as ways for people to keep their pets safe.”
In Mar Vista, it feels like that kind of security is just out of reach.
Resident Jeanelle Arias said a coyote attacked her 14-year-old dog Blaine, a toy breed, in her backyard. The coyote ran away after Arias’ other dog, 7-year-old Bart, barked and chased it. But according to Arias, the coyote didn’t run away. It jumped on top of a planter to see what would happen next.
“If Bart wasn’t there, Blaine would have been attacked,” Arias said. “A lot of pets have gone missing.”
On June 4, a coyote followed a man as he walked his dog around his neighborhood, according to footage captured on a Ring camera video.
Neighbors said the man eventually spotted the coyote and yelled to scare away its pursuer.
Shelly Beringhle has lived in Mar Vista for the past 10 years, but her family has lived in the area since her grandfather, Val Ramos, built his home in 1963.
Beringhle said coyotes were never a concern for the community, but now they are a shadow over humans and pets.
“It really troubles me to see how daring the coyotes have become and how little the city is willing to do about the situation,” Beringhle said.
But Humane Wildlife Control co-owner Rebecca Dmitrik said the situation was optimistic. She said coyotes’ behavior is tied to pupping season. Coyotes are trying to send a message to other dogs in the neighborhood that they have puppies and are territorial.
“They want to make sure the dogs understand, ‘Don’t come here because our puppies are nearby,’” Dmitrik said.
Despite the animal carcasses, Dmytryk doesn’t believe coyotes are preying on neighborhood dogs, but rather they view them as intruders.
coyote pup breeding season This period lasts a few months, from when the coyotes give birth to babies until the young are grown and leave their parents. By the fall, Dmytryk said coyote activity should subside.
Mar Vista is not unique, Dmytryk said. Pupping season is also underway in other parts of Southern California, including parts of South Central Los Angeles and Woodland Hills, where he recently responded to a call to remove a coyote from a crawl space underneath a home.
Dmytryk said he was contacted by a concerned Mar Vista resident and that his business uses humane methods to scare away coyotes. He gave the resident information on how they can protect their home, which is similar to the advice given by the city. His methods include humane traps.
In California it is not allowed to set coyote traps within 150 yards of a home without written permission, but that hasn’t stopped some cities. Torrance contracted a trapper in an attempt to control its coyote population, including killing coyotes. This resulted in the state setting a trap to kill the coyotes. Investigating possible violations of the trapping law,
Although Dmitrik advocates humane measures, she agrees that the city of Los Angeles should take a more proactive approach to tracking coyotes and investigating why they are active in an area. Mar Vista residents agree, although some say they don’t know what that will involve. All they know is that they’re fed up.
Mar Vista resident Shari Dunn watched as a neighbor, walking her husky puppy one recent night, encountered a coyote. The neighbor screamed and was distraught by the encounter.
“I brought her home and she was crying,” Dunn said. “The lady had just gotten home from work and was walking her dog. I guess you can’t do that anymore.”
