They’re ‘like the cockroaches of the mammal world’ and ‘everywhere’ in York County.

As Tega Cay takes another look at coyotes, there’s a much broader picture out there.

Coyotes, it appears, are everywhere.

“Coyotes are kind of like the cockroaches of the mammal world,” said Suzanne Edson, supervisor with York County Animal Control.

“They’re everywhere.”

And like cockroaches, it’s mainly because they are good at surviving. It’s the dilemma in Tega Cay, where some city residents are calling for more to be done to control the coyote population while others argue the city shouldn’t throw money at a problem it can’t fix.

The city already had one public forum on coyotes. An update on the city’s plans was on the agenda when Tega Cay City Council met Dec. 19.

Tega Cay isn’t alone.

When the Fort Mill Times posted the recent story of a former City Council member asking current leaders to do more to curb coyotes in Tega Cay, Facebook and phone messages came in detailing other accounts with the animals. Readers mentioned Whitegrove, Gold Hill Road, Beacon Knoll, Sutton Road, Baxter.

Some said or wrote they lost pets to coyotes.

When the Lake Wylie Pilot asked readers on its Facebook page whether coyotes are an issue, plenty of readers responded. There were reports on Pole Branch, Griggs, Evergreen, Kingsburry and Harper Davis roads. There were footprints on the banks of Crowders Creek, and the video one person shot of an animal in her backyard while she ate breakfast.

There were reported incidents in Steele Creek at Berewick and McDowell Nature Preserve, which has had coyotes dating back at least a decade. Coyotes, and in one case a fox den, were seen and heard in River Hills and Bethelfields.

“Spend an evening in Bethelfields neighborhood,” wrote Mandy Shea. “With all the new building, they are just about a nightly occurrence.”

It’s all but impossible to say how many coyotes live in York County, or in the state. Edson’s office doesn’t hunt, trap or remove coyotes. She refers calls to outside wildlife companies, which enough residents have learned over the years to dry up at least some of the calls that would come into the county. Plus, people often hear or spot a coyote but never report it unless it causes a problem, like endangering a pet.

David Dease with Carolina Wildlife Control is person who gets calls redirected from the county. The company stared in 2006 and serves York, Lancaster and Chester counties. Dease estimates he gets 20 or 30 coyote calls per year compared to maybe 100 for raccoons and opossums, and twice that many for squirrels.

“Really depends on the time of year,” Dease said. “The coyotes are just part of nature like any other animal. They are more scared of you then you are of them.”

Edson notices the same trends.

“It goes in spurts with coyotes,” she said. “It depends on the time of year, weather, things like that. We might go a couple of months without getting a call. We might get two or three calls within a couple of weeks.”

Jay Butfiloski is furbearer project supervisor with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. There are numerous factors in coyote reporting, including community profile. Owners of large farms in the lower part of the state may be more likely to pick up a rifle than a telephone. Suburban areas like Fort Mill, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie may generate more calls for help.

"Sometimes it kind of depends on your frame of reference," Butfiloski said. "It can be a statewide issue. And, in some cases it kind of comes and goes as far as whether there's a rash of sightings."

Regardless of community type, he said, there is a starting point that helps when considering what to do about coyotes.

"We can kind get over the fact that we're going to eradicate them," Butfiloski said.

Edson agrees. Anything from floods, fires and drought to being hunted by humans can impact coyote populations, but the animals arriving decades ago in South Carolina aren’t going anywhere.

“You are not going to eradicate coyotes,” Edson said. “They’ll either disappear to go where conditions are better, or they’ll adapt. Adapting is not as hard as people think.”

Which is why she focuses on “coyote hazing.”

Edson came from California, where she worked at a point where the dessert met mountains. Her background includes work with coyotes, bears and all sorts of other wildlife. She studied coyotes and found they are everywhere from the desert to urban centers. She learned of one frequenting a Chicago convenience store for a summer when the animal found a cooler it could use to get out of the sun.

While sick, injured or aggressive coyotes may need to be removed, often the better course is to make an environment as inhospitable as possible and let the animals leave on their own. Edson advises residents not to leave food and water out, or small cats and dogs in areas where a coyote may be present. Coyotes love chickens, too.

If a coyote is spotted, air horns or banging pots and pans may help scare them into another area. In suburban areas, the task is not only to make one home unattractive to coyotes but to coordinate with neighbors to do the same.

Butfiloski sees reasons why suburban residents struggle more with coyote sightings. That rifle isn’t always sitting by the back door, and often residents couldn’t use it within municipal limits anyway.

"In urban areas, your traditional methods are certainly curtailed," Butfiloski said. "Cities have it kind of tough, because you've got people demanding you do something. But what do you do?"

His recommendation aligns with what Tega Cay leaders have said since they began meeting with state wildlife experts. Butfiloski said it’s “not really feasible” to remove coyotes on what will become an ongoing basis.

"Certainly nature's going to fill that vacuum," he said. "It's probably best you react when you've got an issue."

An aggressive or diseased animal may need to be taken, he said, but otherwise, removing one territorial animal almost surely will lead to another taking its place. Butfiloski also said taking steps as a community to prevent coyote attacks is the best route, starting with pet care. Food and water left outside will attract coyotes.

"It's a lot easier to eat out of a dog food bowl than it is to chase things around and catch them," Butfiloski said.

Habitat modifications, particularly around parks and playgrounds, are important to prevent “ambush sites.” Clearing underbrush along trains and keeping small animals on leashes when walking them can help.

"If you move those hiding areas farther away,” Butfiloski said, “it keeps them farther away."

Privacy fences help, and keeping food and trash covered both at home and in parks is key. If all those steps are taken and a coyote still presents problems, it may be a problem animal in need of removal. Otherwise the accumulation of small steps may head off having to pay for an expensive program to get rid of the animals, which would only work so well and for so long.

“It’s really not economical to do it non-stop,” Butfiloski said. “It’s probably going to be better off dealing with problem animals as issues arise.”

John Marks: 803-831-8166, @JohnFMTimes

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 1:33 PM with the headline "They’re ‘like the cockroaches of the mammal world’ and ‘everywhere’ in York County.."