NAHANT – Coyotes continue to run roughshod over the town and have begun to attack leashed pets in recent weeks, prompting an outcry from residents, but town officials say their hands are tied.
“There is nothing I can say that is going to solve the problem, and it’s not our fault that we don’t have other avenues that have the solutions that would potentially be acceptable for you,” said Town Administrator Antonio Barletta in a Wednesday evening meeting.
In an attempt to alleviate the coyote problem, the town palsn to order whistles and air horns for the residents and put further pressure on the legislators.
Barletta further said the town communicated with Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and they said that in an interaction with coyotes a lot depended on the behavior of a resident, and that the humans should train the coyotes that the interactions with humans were potentially threatening to the animals by hazing them.
The Board of Selectmen members said that they did not propose any type of legislation to the state legislature because they did not know how this legislation should look like.
“What is a legislation change that can help us to solve the problem – I don’t have an answer, but if I had it, I will push it,” said Barletta.
If something is going to happen, “it has to happen on the state level,” said Selectman Mark Cullinan.
The residents delivered their complaints to the administration about the coyotes’ problem. Susan Caccivio said that a man got bitten in Swampscott, and that she had seen the coyotes chase people down her street in Nahant.
“I am afraid because I can see them across the street,” she said.
Caccivio said that there were nine coyotes living on her street in Nahant, and that she saw people “running in horror when they looked over the bushes and saw the four coyotes playing.” She also said that she had an air horn, but it did not solve the overall problem.
“The coyotes should not have more rights than the taxpaying citizens,” said another resident, Pamela Duncan.
Residents suggested educating the public about the coyotes’ behavior as one of the possible solutions.
Nahant police on Saturday responded to a report from a resident on Winter Street that his dog was bitten by a coyote earlier in the day after getting loose from his yard. The dog was taken to the vet and required 20 stitches to its leg.
