Neighbors nervous about large population of coyotes

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - It is coyote season and a Marietta woman with a special needs son said she feels trapped by the wild animals.

“He loves to be outside. He loves to look at the trees. And I want to be able to bring him out here and feel like it's safe,” said Sarah Allen, who lives on a woodsy lot along Liberty Hill Road in unincorporated Marietta.

Allen is a single mom raising Aidan, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She said they are nature lovers, but lately, their backyard visitors, coyotes, have gotten a little too close.

“It's just a little bit scary especially when you got three or four of them walking together and you're like wait a minute this is weird,” said Allen.

She said the coyotes travel along the creek a few feet away from her home. Next door neighbor Roy Myers said he recently was surprised by the large number of coyotes. He said he saw eight of them together. He said he has heard or area cat getting taken, presumably by coyotes, but a recent sighting had him a bit perplexed.

“They was ate up with mange. I mean they were skin and bones. So they were sick,” said Myers.

Richard Federation, a licensed trapper with Southern Wildlife Management, came to Allen’s house to address her concerns.

"When they get to the mange, nature’s way of knocking the numbers down. And to have multiple coming that close that's just not normal,” said Federation.

He said since there are no natural predators, coyotes can easily multiply, and get sick which he suspects is what happened around the home of Sarah Allen. Based on state law he said her options are limited.

"You get these coyotes with mange. The next thing you know it's a coyote with rabies and they will bite. And the only deal with it today in most situations is to trap them,” said Federation.

However, Ms. Allen said as a single mom on a limited budget homebound by taking care of Aiden, it is not an easy option for her.

“I just can't afford it, so I haven't been able to pursue any of that. We might be able to get away with trapping one or two but they are such smart animals that it's probably likely they'll figure it out," said Allen.

Richard Federation said his company will try to trap some of the animals for Ms. Allen for free if it geographically works.

Georgia's Department of Natural Resources advise people concerned about coyotes to search for answers and resources at this website at georgiawildlife.com/nuisancewildlife.