Jennifer Kendall on FOX 7 The Austin and local hill country area is growing so fast that weâre having a real wildlife crisis regarding habitat loss. We get calls all the time from angry, brand new homeowners of countryside suburbia new builds, that was wild land just months before, asking why there are animals in their yard when there shouldnât be. The irony...
âTheir home is being taken over, they donât know where to go, theyâre trying to find their home but itâs not there anymore so theyâre roaming the streets.â Animal Control Officer Phoebe Taylor ... See more
â ď¸ WARNING â ď¸
The Williamson County Sheriffâs Office said a man in Round Rock was bitten by a coyote this morning.
It happened in the Teravista neighborhood near the golf course on Lone Tree Path.
In the last two months, people living in that neighborhood have noticed an unusual amount of wildlife creeping onto their property, especially coyotes.
âThey look young and skinny, like theyâre hungry probably, and theyâre just kind of figuring their way out, learning their way around the community, trying to find a place to eat, a place for shelter,â said Cory Brymer whose property backs up to the golf course.
Animal control officers with the Williamson County Sheriffâs Office said part of the reason thatâs happening is because of all the construction nearby.
âTheir home is being taken over, they donât know whatâs going on, so theyâre trying to find their home, but itâs not there anymore so theyâre roaming the streets,â said WCSO Animal Control Officer Phoebe Taylor.
Brymer, said he sees about three or four coyotes per month now, sometimes just feet away from golfers.
âThey certainly seem like they are not afraid of people, theyâre not afraid of an urban environment by any means, so itâs scary. I mean, weâre not used to seeing that sort of thing,â Brymer said.
Animal control said around 10am Wednesday one man got a little too close.
âThe call said he was trying to take a picture of the coyote and it just kind of nipped him on the bottom of the left foot,â said Taylor.
The best thing to do if you do see a coyote is to give it plenty of space and try to scare it away.
âYou can clap really loud, you can yell at them, throw your hands up, you can get really big, make them go away,â Taylor said.
Once the animals realize there is no nearby food source, animal control said they will likely move on. Thatâs why officers ask people not to feed the coyotes, or leave food or anything that could become food outside.
Brymer said he would like to see the coyotes moved to a safer location before someone else gets hurt.
WCSO recommends that anyone who sees a coyote in Teravista calls a wildlife removal company, animal control or the livestock unit.
Full story on FOX 7 Austin ... See more
