Penticton Western News, July 25, 2012

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NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN

www.pentictonwesternnews.com

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RDOS officials unaware employee admitted scavenging from landfill

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VOL.46 ISSUE 59

Customers can now bring their own wine to B.C. restaurants

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

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entertainment Theatre group takes As en You Like It outdoors

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teams ms sports orts Penticton Heat lacrosse team claim first provincial titles

ROUND AND ROUND THEY GO — Maddy Maywood (left) and friend Mckenna Clarke hold on for dear life as they take a corner on the Scrambler ride at the recent West Coast Amusements midway at the South Okanagan Events Centre parking lot. The carnival is a regular visitor to Penticton.

Mark Brett/Western News

COYOTES, COUGARS CAUSE ALARM Kristi Patton

Western News Staff

Brazen coyotes caused residents in a Penticton neighbourhood concern last week. Lori Dunn, who lives near McNicoll Park School, said she found her cat dead last week in a neighbour’s backyard. The SPCA also had reports of a number of cats missing last week in that area. “The neighbours a few houses over had about ¿ve coyotes perched on their back deck a couple days before. They were very bold,” said Dunn. “We could hear them at night and I have seen them wandering down the street boldly around 8 to 9 p.m.” Penticton conservation service of¿cer Jim Beck said they received reports of three coyotes causing trouble near Kendall Crescent. “The reason we attended was that they were actually approaching people and threatening to nip or bite. On two occasions there were people

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approached. The coyotes were coming right up on people within a few feet, and the people did the right thing by acting large, yelling and trying to scare them off. It took multiple attempts before one particular larger coyote backed off,” said Beck. Conservation of¿cers, Beck said, generally only provide preventative information about coyotes. Given the coyotes were causing a public safety issue and walking around during the day, of¿cers decided to patrol the area last week. “What this usually is linked to is people were feeding the coyotes scraps and that sort of thing. Well-meaning individuals think they are doing the coyotes a favour by throwing them scraps or feeding them, but in reality, that generally results in the death of the animal because they lose that natural fear or respect for people and start approaching them,” said Beck. One adult couple out walking in the area was followed by a coyote from behind. Beck described it as how a border collie would come

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kind of behaviour,” said Beck. Since the coyotes were disposed of, the conservation of¿cers haven’t received any calls from concerned residents. While the numerous calls of bear sightings subsided from the beginning of summer, Beck said they did receive a call on Friday about two cougars seen on the Penticton Indian Reserve near the Green Mountain Road bridge. For three days in a row, the pair of cougars were seen during daylight hours between the mini storage and boarding stables. Both of those areas are close to the river channel halfway point where many people are converging and others are using the recreation trail. Beck said they set a live trap and captured the juvenile cat and removed it from the area. “Once a juvenile has been removed from the female, that female generally isn’t going to feel the area is safe anymore and they disappear on us. Hopefully she will go back and prey on the natural prey she is accustomed to,” said Beck.

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in quickly like it was going to bite an ankle. The couple scared it a few times and the coyote ran into a yard with hedges. But when the couple started walking away, it popped out from the hedge and went at them again from behind. “Rarely do I get reports describing this kind of behaviour,” said Beck. “These (coyotes) were wandering around in the middle of the day and bedding in people’s yards and had absolutely zero fear or respect for people.” During his patrols, Beck said he was waved over by a number of residents telling him of coyote encounters. Early Friday morning, conservation of¿cers dispatched two coyotes, shooting them with a .22-calibre riÀe. Beck said coyotes are capable of killing sheep and small prey. If a human is bitten, there is a chance of infection. “A child could sustain a pretty nasty bite. But who knows if someone had been hand-feeding them and they were trying to mooch or if they were going to nip. We don’t want to take that kind of chance when they are displaying that

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