NAHANT, MASS. (WHDH) - The Town of Nahant is moving forward with a plan to kill off aggressive coyotes.
The Town Board of Selectmen voted to bring in federal wildlife officers to kill off the excess animals in the area.
Residents with cell phones and home security cameras have captured coyotes running wild in the town. Community leaders say taking drastic measures is necessary.
“It’s a difficult decision,” says Nahant Town Administrator Tony Barletta. “It’s a public safety issue, though; it’s not a political one.”
Barletta says the Select Board has run out of options, including things like trapping and relocating the animals. Now, the town is hiring federal sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to kill the coyotes.
“We’re doing it at night,” says Barletta. “Doing it in an isolated area, where people are not put in harm’s way.”
Over the past year, three coyotes in town have taken pets off leashes being walked by their owners. Other domestic pets have gone missing, too. But the plan to shoot the coyotes instead of moving them elsewhere is getting mixed reviews.
“Who are they? What credentials do they have?” asks Nahant resident Mike Desmond.
“We have to get rid of them somehow, we really have to,” says Neil Callahan, also of Nahant.
Another resident who did not give a name added: “I know it’s an issue, but I don’t like the idea of shooting them down. I don’t think that’s a good way to manage it.”
Administrator Barletta says the sharpshooters will work at night in areas out of harm’s way, like the town’s composting site.
Officials believe there may be as many as a dozen coyotes currently in town.
Nahant is the first town in Massachusetts to bring in sharpshooters to deal with coyotes. The cost of the program is estimated to be in the five-to-ten thousand dollar range.
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