Coyote population appears to be thriving throughout Squamish, with the town experiencing a fair amount of coyote activity over the past two years, according to Meg Toom, a wildlife educator for the district.
Toom said the Wildlife Office had received countless word-of-mouth reports about coyote activity mainly in Brackendale, Garibaldi Estates and Valleycliffe.
She said the calls were above and beyond the calls that come into the Conservation Officer Services hotline.
Toom was responding to citizens’ concerns about coyotes in the local neighbourhoods.
“Living near the railway lines (wildlife will use train tracks as corridors), the Mamquam River to the south and Squamish River to the west, it is to be expected wildlife will move through the area,” she said.
Toom said there were a variety of wildlife attractants that could be attracting coyotes into specific neighbourhoods and the district was in the process of revising the Wildlife Attractant Bylaw to better align with the community’s needs.
She said the conservation officer and the district planned to organize a wildlife attractant audit for Willow Village townhome complex and the neighbouring area.
Toom is encouraging people to contact the Conservation Officer Service 24/7 hotline for any wildlife sightings/encounters.
The service can be contacted at 1.877.952.7277 or your wildlife sightings can be reported online at: https://forms.gov.bc.ca/environment/rapp/
For any wildlife attractant concerns, the district’s bylaw office can be contacted at 604.815.5067 or bylaw@squamish.ca
