WELLINGTON, Fla. — A Wellington man is seeking solutions for a growing coyote problem in the western communities of Palm Beach County.
Bobby has lived on his Wellington property for more than 50 years. He said he has noticed a growing problem of coyotes in his neighborhood, and recently captured a sighting of one in his backyard.
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Bobby and his service dog, Cooper, are inseparable, walking the property together or going for occasional bike rides. But recently, they have been running into a dangerous problem with coyotes.
"It was extremely close, and it just stood there, like it was at the dog park, really, you know, like it was wanted to play with my dog or something," Bobby said.
"Yeah, yeah. You know, growing up here, we've been here 54 years, so we never saw coyotes. They had a lot more room to roam," Bobby said.
Bobby said Cooper is specially trained to bark at the coyotes and scare them off, but never leave the property.
"During the day, in the morning, noon, night. Doesn't matter. At least once a week, I see one," Bobby said.
Searching for answers about what the Village of Wellington is doing about the issue, I spoke with Village Manager Jim Barnes.
Barnes said coyotes are not the village's responsibility, and that the issue belongs to FWC.
I reached out to FWC, and the agency said coyotes have found their way into all 64 counties across Florida.
FWC said the problem is so bad that they have stopped asking people to report sightings unless the coyotes are acting aggressively.
FWC said the best way to keep coyotes away is to secure trash, feed pets inside, clean grills, pick up any fallen fruit or bird seed from the yard, and walk pets on a short, non-retractable leash.
While Bobby said he will not be walking his dog on a short leash, he hopes the problem does not get too bad before something major is done about it.
"I hope it doesn't get to that," Bobby said.
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