Tampabay: Coyotes howling, growling at airport

At least one pack, thought to consist of 12 to 18 animals, has been roaming airport grounds north of the terminal building, feasting on rabbits, rodents and snakes. Since the coyotes' presence was confirmed last summer, airport officials have been trying to capture the critters and move them elsewhere.

Without success.

Humane traps were deployed. They were baited with meat. The coyotes should have taken the bait and been caught. They didn't and weren't.

Tranquilizer guns were brought in. The coyotes disappeared. When they returned, they kept out of sight.

"We can get close enough that they growl at us, but they won't let us see them," said Johnny Mattair, the Hillsborough trapper hired by the airport to get rid of the animals that could become a hazard to air traffic.

In fact, airport officials think one of the coyotes was hit and killed by an airplane over the Labor Day weekend.

"A Southwest Airlines pilot reported to the tower that he saw a coyote on the runway, but he didn't know if his aircraft hit it," said Hillsborough County Aviation Authority spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan. "When he got to Fort Lauderdale, the plane was checked but there was no damage."

Ken Johnson, assistant director of airport operations, happened to be working that night. When he went out to investigate, he found a dead coyote.

Asked if it appeared the animal had been hit by something, Johnson said, "Yes, it did."

Last month, airport officials disclosed that they had been fighting pigeon infestations at Airsides C and D since last spring and finally called in a trapper who captured and gassed 500 to 600 of the birds.

Reports of dogs or coyotes on the airport grounds began earlier in the year, but the first confirmed sighting was on June 25. Mattair began trying to round up the animals on July 16, but he has yet to take any of them.

"They're really smart," Mattair said Friday. "We have calls that we usually use, and the coyotes come running right up to us. But we haven't had a single one of these animals respond. Usually, you put out a dead carcass, and the coyotes find it in a day. These won't come in a week."

So far, Mattair has limited his efforts to live-trapping and tranquilizer darts. If he takes any of the animals this way, finding them new homes won't be as easy as driving them to North Florida and letting them go.

Until 100 years ago, coyotes were found only in western states. A sudden population expansion, possibly due to a drop in numbers of wolves and mountain lions, sent coyotes north into Canada, south into Mexico and east across the Mississippi River. They showed up in Connecticut in the 1950s and then began to spread south, finally reaching Florida.

In addition to being highly mobile, coyotes are extremely adaptable in diet and habitat. The animals have even been seen roaming Los Angeles.

But because coyotes are not native to Florida, the state does not permit a trapper to release a captured animal back into the wild.

"I would try to find a hunting preserve or some other type of controlled environment for them," Mattair said. "That's what we've done for a lot of coyotes and wild pigs we've trapped for ranchers."

But the airport wants the animals gone. Eventually, Mattair acknowledged, he might be forced to use harsher methods.

"I might have to shoot them," he said. "I don't like the idea of using a gun in there. It's close quarters to roads and the airport facilities themselves. But if nothing else works. ... "

He will not, however, resort to poison.

"I'm against that. It takes the animals a while to die, and they suffer. And the hard part is making sure you poison the right animal. Other species might come in and eat the same bait. You wind up doing more harm to the environment."

Vandenburg, the executive airport near I-4 and I-75 also operated by the Aviation Authority, has had its share of wildlife problems, too, including coyotes.

"They're there, then they're gone, then they're back," said Geoghagan, the spokeswoman. "When we built the new terminal, we also had to clear out two alligators and 25 wild pigs."

Johnson said he is concerned that the coyote population at TIA will continue to grow.

"The females come into heat twice a year, and they always have pups," he said. "This is only going to get worse."

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