Post by Bobcat on Jan 25, 2004 16:55:58 GMT -5
Wild animals follow food into El Paso
More El Pasoans report seeing lions, coyotes and bears
Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
Rudy Fajardo recently tracked down and shot a coyote after getting a call from a Central El Paso resident that coyotes were attacking children on their way to school.
He found signs that a couple of coyotes were in the area near the Pershing gate to Fort Bliss. He also saw a rabbit, "and it's likely this was the kind of prey that brought them into the city," he said.
Fajardo, a biologist for the U.S. Agriculture Department, used a Critter Call device to lure one of the coyotes out of a drainage tunnel. He then shot it on the chance that it might be rabid. Having the coyote tested for rabies would be better than subjecting children to painful shots, he said.
"I never did find the other coyote, and I hope whoever sees it will report it," said Fajardo, the lone member in El Paso of the Texas Wildlife Damage Management Services.
Fajardo deals with them all, from mischievous raccoons that upset neighborhood trash cans, to mountain lions that are attacking ranch livestock, to coyotes that eat farmers' chickens.
His agency is assigned to protect people against diseases from wild animals and birds; protect property from destructive rodents, birds and other wildlife; and reduce economic losses to crops and timber or livestock from wild predators and wildlife-borne disease.
The agency also played a major role in the Texas Oral Rabies Project, which immunized coyotes and gray foxes in the wild through an oral rabies vaccine. The agency is a cooperative program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the private Texas Animal Damage Control Association, and is administered by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
El Paso Zoo Curator John Kiseda said wild animals that normally tend to avoid contact with people will travel into urban areas when food and water are scarce in their usual habitats.
"Sometimes they will attack pets that they view as prey," Kiseda said.
For months, West El Paso residents reported seeing a mountain lion, but the wild feline managed to elude wildlife specialists. The mountain lion, which had climbed onto a West El Paso family's back yard, was shot Aug. 12 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department after it was determined to be dangerous.
Texas Game Warden Robert Newman said his state department is assigned to enforce hunting and fishing laws, "but sometimes we get called to assist in these cases because there is no one else around who can do this sort of thing."
In the past, Newman said, bears from Mexico have passed through El Paso on their way to the Sacramento Mountains in New Mexico. "Several years ago, a family in the West Side found two bears drinking water out of their swimming pool. After a few days, they moved on without bothering anyone."
Last summer, a poodle in the West Side was attacked by a mountain lion. Residents in Northeast El Paso also reported sightings of mountain lions, but wildlife experts don't know if it is the same one that was killed.
"We are seeing mountain lions, deer and coyotes come down because there's no food or water in the mountains because of the drought we've had," said Debbie Lofton. She's a rehabilitator with the Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue, a nonprofit group that rehabilitates injured or orphaned wild birds or animals and seeks to return them to the wild.
Lofton, who lives on North Loop and Hunter, said she has spotted five pairs of gray foxes in her neighborhood, which is next to El Paso Community College's Valle Verde Campus. She said the foxes were traced back to the Phelps Dodge refinery area, but over the years their offspring have spread out.
"They're a lot of fun to watch," Lofton said. "They climb up the pecan trees, and they love apricots. They're harmless."
"Last summer, we got a lot of calls from people complaining about skunks, and we've had people in the Upper Valley complain about beavers stripping the bark off trees near the country club," Lofton said. "We explain to people who get the deer that eat their bushes and grass that some of the homes in their newer neighborhoods close to the mountains are providing a buffet for these animals."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.; Source: Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue.
More El Pasoans report seeing lions, coyotes and bears
Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
Rudy Fajardo recently tracked down and shot a coyote after getting a call from a Central El Paso resident that coyotes were attacking children on their way to school.
He found signs that a couple of coyotes were in the area near the Pershing gate to Fort Bliss. He also saw a rabbit, "and it's likely this was the kind of prey that brought them into the city," he said.
Fajardo, a biologist for the U.S. Agriculture Department, used a Critter Call device to lure one of the coyotes out of a drainage tunnel. He then shot it on the chance that it might be rabid. Having the coyote tested for rabies would be better than subjecting children to painful shots, he said.
"I never did find the other coyote, and I hope whoever sees it will report it," said Fajardo, the lone member in El Paso of the Texas Wildlife Damage Management Services.
Fajardo deals with them all, from mischievous raccoons that upset neighborhood trash cans, to mountain lions that are attacking ranch livestock, to coyotes that eat farmers' chickens.
His agency is assigned to protect people against diseases from wild animals and birds; protect property from destructive rodents, birds and other wildlife; and reduce economic losses to crops and timber or livestock from wild predators and wildlife-borne disease.
The agency also played a major role in the Texas Oral Rabies Project, which immunized coyotes and gray foxes in the wild through an oral rabies vaccine. The agency is a cooperative program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the private Texas Animal Damage Control Association, and is administered by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
El Paso Zoo Curator John Kiseda said wild animals that normally tend to avoid contact with people will travel into urban areas when food and water are scarce in their usual habitats.
"Sometimes they will attack pets that they view as prey," Kiseda said.
For months, West El Paso residents reported seeing a mountain lion, but the wild feline managed to elude wildlife specialists. The mountain lion, which had climbed onto a West El Paso family's back yard, was shot Aug. 12 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department after it was determined to be dangerous.
Texas Game Warden Robert Newman said his state department is assigned to enforce hunting and fishing laws, "but sometimes we get called to assist in these cases because there is no one else around who can do this sort of thing."
In the past, Newman said, bears from Mexico have passed through El Paso on their way to the Sacramento Mountains in New Mexico. "Several years ago, a family in the West Side found two bears drinking water out of their swimming pool. After a few days, they moved on without bothering anyone."
Last summer, a poodle in the West Side was attacked by a mountain lion. Residents in Northeast El Paso also reported sightings of mountain lions, but wildlife experts don't know if it is the same one that was killed.
"We are seeing mountain lions, deer and coyotes come down because there's no food or water in the mountains because of the drought we've had," said Debbie Lofton. She's a rehabilitator with the Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue, a nonprofit group that rehabilitates injured or orphaned wild birds or animals and seeks to return them to the wild.
Lofton, who lives on North Loop and Hunter, said she has spotted five pairs of gray foxes in her neighborhood, which is next to El Paso Community College's Valle Verde Campus. She said the foxes were traced back to the Phelps Dodge refinery area, but over the years their offspring have spread out.
"They're a lot of fun to watch," Lofton said. "They climb up the pecan trees, and they love apricots. They're harmless."
"Last summer, we got a lot of calls from people complaining about skunks, and we've had people in the Upper Valley complain about beavers stripping the bark off trees near the country club," Lofton said. "We explain to people who get the deer that eat their bushes and grass that some of the homes in their newer neighborhoods close to the mountains are providing a buffet for these animals."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.; Source: Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue.
