Longboat looks toward second coyote forum

With the return of seasonal residents to Longboat Key, the number of coyote sightings and complaints have increased to the point that the town is planning another forum to educate the public about the four-legged visitor (or visitors) to the island.

“We have received an uptick in calls over the past week to 10 days,” Police Chief Pete Cumming said. “Residents returning are seeing the coyotes and are becoming concerned.”

There have been no reports of aggressive behavior, Cumming said. Within the last month, coyotes have been continued to be spotted from one end of the island to the other.

Plans for Longboat’s meeting, slated for a still-unspecified date in mid-December, will be similar to August’s public meeting that included coyote experts from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. At that meeting, residents were told that coyotes are smart but timid and difficult to trap. 

But it was pet safety that chiefly worried residents at the August meeting. FWC officials advised residents at the meeting to walk dogs on short leashes and keep cats indoors. And if a coyote is spotted, make as much noise as possible.

“One of the reasons they are scheduling these sessions is to provide an opportunity for our seasonal residents to meet directly with the FWC and our police department, as many of them are returning and just learning of the presence of a coyote(s) on the Key,” Town Manager Tom Harmer said.   

“It is also important to share all of the information that the town has available from our research and from the FWC and to continue to let them know what the town is doing and what they can do,” he said.

FWC officials have said there are likely two breeding pairs of coyotes on the Key, though they cannot be sure. They said the animal can be trapped and released. The caveat, however, is that the animal would have to be released in the county in which it was captured, and few such release points exist in Sarasota County.

Longboat Key Turtle Watch, in compiling a season-end report on turtle nesting on Longboat beaches, concluded that 25 nests were likely disturbed by coyotes, of 203 total reached by predators. 

Also, the problem with trapping and releasing a coyote is that they are territorial and chances are they would return to Longboat. Town officials, however, have consulted an independent trapper about capturing and relocating the animal.

Coyotes, which average 30 pounds, have also been spotted on Anna Maria Island, Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach, Perico Island and Cortez. Officials there are talking to private trappers about relocating the animals.

The FWC said coyotes can be found in all 67 Florida counties.