You will also want to contact community standards as they will contact the homeowner. They would consider this a health and safety risk and can help with advice on who to contact.

Coyotes
 

Why is it so difficult to get through to people? DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE! Any of them! That poor coyote and baby are now attracted to humans, depending on human feeding! This is one reason our little dogs and cats fall prey.

Foxes not coyotes
 

I saw those animals & I believe that they are foxes not coyotes. Coyotes are much larger, much the size of a large German Shepherd.

The feeding of wild animals is not only wrong, it is illegal

I agree that coyotes can be menacing and have heard this from many friends in Ocala, where there are numerous ranches neat large housing communities.

Coyotes weigh under 50 pounds (15 to 46) so much smaller than a large german Shepherd. A large Shepherd is over 100 pounds.

I used to scare the coyotes away with loud metal banging. Also, music and lights kept them away.

I could have easily written your exact sentiments! I've known several people who think they are very special feral cat feeders. Several University professors who created a mess on campus.
(Yeah, they're the ones influencing our youth, sadly).

Upon moving into a wonderful new neighborhood, we met a couple that seemed nice, so we eventually went out to dinner together at a very nice restaurant. The food was delicious.

Ready?

They barely touched their food.

Asked why, they informed us that they were saving it for the feral cats that the feed over near the hospital, which was nowhere near where we lived.

Telling them all about friends who are Game Wardens and Park Rangers with various stories of the perils of feeding wild animals fell on deaf ears.

There will always be the self- righteous wild animal feeders, obliviously doing the most harm, and being so PROUD of themselves. Can't reason with them, sadly.

My earlier post brought up the possibility of just that. This type of activity (much like hoarding) is difficult to mitigate. The individuals usually engaged in it don't take well to laws and ordinances. Thus why LEO or Animal Control, who have experience with this, should be notified.

Coyotes
 

At first I thought it was a fox and cub, and took a photo of mama from a distance after she ran to the side of the house, near the back. Got home and took a better look at the photo and yup - it's a coyote, for sure. Too big to be a fox. Ears too long, neck too long, tail not bushy enough. So positive it's a coyote.

Very cool to see, but not very cool to have in this residential area, especially considering that someone is intentionally feeding them, which makes them grow accustomed to humans and lose their fear of us. That spells danger for humans.

What to do? Is there even an "animal control" like there is up north? It's not a domesticated animal, it's not a bird or gator. They don't need rescuing.

But someone with authority needs to find out who's feeding them and make them stop doing that. And possibly the coyotes should be captured and euthanized or relocated.

Who though? The police? Animal control? Community standards? The local rec center? A wildlife conservation organization? The Lady Lake Town Hall? Who do you even report this stuff to around here?[/QUOTE]

Any rural and most suburban area has night time coyotes. Trying to get the coyotes is a fruitless task. It is the dim hominids feeding them that is the problem. This should be an action that brings a severe fine to the maybe well meaning but uninformed resident that fed them. Let them be. Perhaps signage posting fines. Any other suggestions?

People need to watch their smaller pets. There are many predators around here, not just coyotes.

Any rural and most suburban area has night time coyotes. Trying to get the coyotes is a fruitless task. It is the dim hominids feeding them that is the problem. This should be an action that brings a severe fine to the maybe well meaning but uninformed resident that fed them. Let them be. Perhaps signage posting fines. Any other suggestions?[/QUOTE]

I just hope someone does not take this into their own hands. A few months ago, my friend and I came across a dead fox in the driveway of an abandoned house. I don't believe it was a natural death and don't know what happened to the rest of them. These animals are displaced and have nowhere to go. Please don't feed or harm them.

Coyotes are not the size of a German Shepherd. They're the size of a medium dog, such as a border collie. The largest coyotes only get to around 40 or 45 pounds in weight and 3 to 4 feet snout to rump.

An adult female German Shephard weighs between 50-70 pounds, and run around a foot longer than a coyote.

Compare to foxes - which usually weigh less than 15 pounds, around 2.5 feet long, not including their tails.

A few years ago we came home around 9pm and saw a woman in our entryway holding a dog. She said she was walking her dog and an animal the size of a medium dog came out between our house and started coming toward her. She picked up her dog and tried to ring our door bell. We come home and saw the animal run off when I pulled in the driveway. We think it was a coyote. I drove the frightened woman and her dog home and gave her some advice. "Don't walk your dog in the dark." Too many critters out at night.:22yikes:

I agree, something needs to be done to stop this!

We used to carry an empty soda can at night. It was not completely empty but had small rocks in it and we would shake it if a coyote approached us at night. That would work on them. I have come in contact with them several times during the daylight hours and they would be running away trying to get back to their safety zone. They did not try to grab the dog during the daylight hours but have been known to take Villages pooches nearer to dusk and dawn.