Courtesy photo

Alamo Heights coyotes really might have something to howl about soon. The city’s police department has armed itself with rubber bullets – normally associated with riot control – as the latest deterrent to keep the wild canines away from neighborhoods.

During regular City Council meeting Feb. 25, Alamo Heights Police Chief Rick Pruitt said he purchased 50 rounds of non-lethal rubber bullets that can be fired from his department’s 12-gauge shotguns. The non-lethal projectiles will be used to shoot at coyotes to deter them from roaming neighborhoods during daylight hours, he said.

“This should accomplish what we’re trying to do,” Pruitt told council members. “This should regain their fear of human beings.”

The measure comes after numerous sightings of coyotes incurring upon residential neighborhoods – particularly in the area surrounding the Olmos Basin. Thirty-seven coyote sightings have been reported since July, including 16 sightings during daylight hours, the police chief said.

“This is a concern to us,” Pruitt said of the daytime sightings, which represent aberrant behavior for the normally nocturnal creatures. “It indicates they are comfortable around humans and residential areas.”

Last month, a wildlife expert briefed residents on how to deal with coyotes, while emphasizing the problem is hardly an all-out incursion. Because coyotes have 11 different vocalizations and roam across a wide expanse of land, their population may seem greater than their actual numbers, Richard Heilbrun of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department told council members.

Heilbrun estimated the coyote population in Alamo Heights to be between two and 10. At the last council meeting, Pruitt said the coyote population stands at five but is expected to increase by April following the breeding season.

Other than throwing rocks and sticks at them while shouting and/or wildly flailing one’s arms, little can be done by residents to deter coyotes, Pruitt and Heilbrun have both said. Coyotes can be killed legally, but local statutes prohibit the firing of weapons within city limits, Pruitt said. And trapping the creatures for later release elsewhere is prohibitive, both ecologically and logistically, Heilbrun added.

But because daylight coyote sightings pose a Level 3 threat – according to a chart of threat levels disbursed by Heilbrun at last month’s meeting – the police chief opted to spend about $75 for the rubber bullets to add to the city’s anti-coyote arsenal, he said in a subsequent interview. Whenever possible, rubber bullets would not be fired directly at the creatures but at the ground surrounding them, the ensuing whirlpool of dust and pebbles enough of a deterrent to discourage their daylight outings, Pruitt noted during the council meeting.

“You’ll also get audible and visual pain aversion if one of the pellets hits them,” Pruitt said.

The police chief said rubber bullets would be utilized in the next 30 days or so, following notifications to alert residents. Because the sound a fired-off rubber bullet is almost identical to a traditional shotgun shell, residents first must be alerted to the use of the non-lethal projectiles, he said. Homeowners also will be receiving a newsletter with tips on discouraging coyotes from their properties, he added.

The coyote control measure is the second substantive step taken by city officials to curb wild animal populations. At the Feb. 11 meeting, city council authorized a trap-neuter-return program for feral cats in order to control their numbers as well.