Northwest Hills residents are campaigning to combat coyotes. They say the wild animals moved into the neighborhood over the last year.
Connie Green has lived in the Northwest Austin neighborhood for more than 25 years. She said there has been a “population explosion “of coyotes that have moved on from hunting wildlife to hunting domesticated pets.
"They've actually now started approaching humans very aggressively, very dangerously, and our fear is that a child is going to be next," Green said.
John Young, a mammalogist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, said fighting coyotes is a war fought on all fronts, not just from neighborhood to neighborhood.
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Coyote curse
Northwest Hills area residents are asking the city and county to help combat the coyote problem.
 
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"The issue with removal of animals, in the city as well, is that you're talking about several small land owners, you're talking about a couple of large landowners - and for any control program to be successful, you need to remove a large number of the population," he said.
Earlier this month, more than 80 residents took their concerns to Travis County commissioners. Now, they're trying to secure help from the city of Austin.
"When I received calls, I started asking questions. I discovered that there are a bunch of different governmental bodies saying it's somebody else's issue. We have a lot of red tape we need to cut through," councilmember Brewster McCracken said.
The city is now working with the Texas Cooperative Extension in Travis County to control the coyote population.
The county is crafting a contract with the County Extension Service and USDA. They are expected to vote on it Nov. 2. If approved, residents will see changes no later than early 2005.
