SWAMPSCOTT — Two informational events about coyotes are happening in town in the upcoming days. On Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m., there is a Zoom presentation from the CEO of Humane Wildlife Control Inc. Rebecca Dmytryk called “Living With Coyotes.” On March 7 at Swampscott High School, Problem Animal Control Agent Dan Proulx will provide a presentation at 6:30 p.m. titled “How to Safely Co-Exist With Coyotes to Keep Pets Safe.”
Deb Newman of Swampscott helped arrange the “Living With Coyotes” event. She said a coyote response plan will be presented.
“The focus on the coyote response plan is a great thing because it not only does education for residents and anybody who is concerned about the coyotes, but it also teaches the municipality how to set up a team of people devoted to anything related to a coyote incident or encounter,” Newman said.
The plan includes how to investigate an incident regarding coyotes and it has a map that shows coyote hotspots, she said.
“Then the team can go and find out why are they so often in that area and what’s going on there. Is it a food attractant or some other type of attractant? And you can get rid of it, talk to whoever might have it and say you can’t do this anymore,” Newman said.
This presentation will provide reassurance for residents because “somebody’s taking charge of the situation,” she said.
“One Animal Control Officer in a town can’t do it all,” Newman said. “I think you need somebody with expert ability to take care of a situation that could escalate and then people get fearful and angry, because nobody’s helping them and they want to kill the coyotes. So we’d like to prevent that from happening.”
The event “How to Safely Co-Exist With Coyotes to Keep Pets Safe” on March 7 will be more focused on educating residents, she said. It is being hosted by Swampscott Conservancy and the Town of Swampscott.
Problem Animal Control Agent Dan Proulx, who was previously Swampscott’s Animal Control Officer, has done presentations like this one in the past, Newman said.
Becoming involved with coyote education is something Newman did after the Town of Nahant’s Board of Selectmen approved the hiring of sharpshooters to eliminate the coyotes at the beginning of December 2022.
“There’s got to be a different way,” Newman said. “I don’t think that indiscriminate killing of any animal is the way to go.”
Since she lives in Swampscott, she has had conversations with the Select Board and town administrator about the topic of coyotes. Swampscott has had its own run-ins with coyotes including attacks last summer.
“The town administrator and the Select Board have voiced publicly that they don’t ever want to be killing coyotes,” Newman said. “What I’m hoping for Swampscott and other places is that we prevent the escalation to what people felt in Nahant … people having tools and really understanding what they need to do and what the municipality needs to do to support them.”
