PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A Perrysburg man recently woke up to find a number of his livestock killed by nuisance animals; but he said this isn't a new problem.
Joe Cox said he's dealt with these animals killing chickens before, and there's nothing you can do to stop a coyote's need to eat.
"When they're hungry, they're hungry. We have shot a few to try and curb their numbers, but we just have to lock the animals up at night and do what we can do," Cox said.
He said that what makes a coyote so hard to deter is that they are good at sneaking by without being seen.
"We don't see them too often, but we hear them quite often. You can go out back, step out of the back door of the house at night, and you can hear them yipping and hollering and carrying on," Cox said.
Jim Witter from the Wood County Park District said that's all by design. Coyotes are nocturnal animals, and are getting better at living around humans.
"In the case of the coyote and actually very many creatures, they are learning to adapt to being around people. They've been able to adapt to these human surroundings and really all kinds of environments," Witter said.
He said if you do come across a coyote, you don't have to afraid.
"Really, there's nothing you necessarily need to do. You can just observe it," Witter said. "They are often pretty skittish and weary of people, so they're most likely to be moving in another direction. Generally, count yourself lucky to be able to see an amazing wild animal."
Witter said if a coyote is repeatedly coming onto your property, you can contact the Ohio Division of Natural Resources and they will have a wildlife officer come out to investigate.