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GREELY - Two trappers employed through Ottawa Councillor Doug Thompson’s office continue to track - or at least try to track - coyotes in rural areas of the city, notably Greely, which straddles County Road 31 just south of the urban part of the expanded city.

It’s been a "humbling" experience, says Paul Mussell of his ongoing attempts to rid the suburb of an influx of emboldened coyotes who’ve put household pets at the top of their diet.

"They’re a very smart animal," said Mussell, an Osgoode-based farmer, trapper and rural comic who entertains at conferences and charity events.

Thompson says there’s nothing funny about the dozens of coyotes plaguing Greely. They’re casually sauntering down the main drag hoping to dine in style on dogs and cats not kept under vigilant guard by their owners. They’re digging in backyards for apples buried in the snow, and causing some residents to put out dog food laced with antifreeze as a cure which could backfire.

"My office continues to receive reports of coyote sightings," the councillor said. "Over the past two weeks, two more pets have been taken."

One experienced Metcalfe resident who decided to take matters into his own hands was seriously injured after being thrown off his snowmobile during an impromptu coyote hunt.

It’s a nuisance with which area farmers are very familiar, Thompson observed.

The drawback in built up areas within the city is that firearms can’t be readily discharged, limiting extermination measures to trapping

Working with fellow trapper Gary Fischer, Mussell did catch one large male coyote in a legal leg-hold trap. He bagged the beast on a Greely residential property where a pair of wily coyotes had previously run off with a small family dog.

The trapper said the animal he caught and humanely put down was likely one of the two original culprits and had come back hoping for more.

There’s no catch-and-release in the coyote trapping business, Mussell explained. Provincial legislation prevents transferring a captive coyote from the place it was apprehended.

While experts say they rarely engage with people in any way, the Greely pack is behaving uncharacteristically in showing very little fear of humans, Mussell said. Research indicates many urban areas across North America are experiencing similar encounters.

He said intermittent woodlots, gravel pits and open terrain in the Greely area provide good habitat for coyotes, allowing them to launch food forays into estate-style residential clusters and to quickly escape.

Among reasons there appear to be more coyotes around this winter than usual is the current low price for their pelts, resulting in less hunting, which is legal year-round.

Unlike the bumbling way they’re depicted in Road Runner cartoons, the typical coyote is a clever and calculating hunter and is very hard to trap, Mussell said, adding that he and Fischer hope to capture the half dozen or so ringleaders of the pack.

Suburban trapping isn’t a walk in the park, the trapping comic emphasized. Not only do trappers have to be extra cautious to ensure they don’t catch dogs instead of coyotes, there’s the public relations involved in explaining their actions.

While residents don’t want coyotes skulking through the neighbourhood, many don’t want them put down, either. However, that’s the only productive option, Mussell emphasized.

Adding to the difficulty, Fischer said, are quickly changing weather patterns which erase tracks and reduce the effectiveness of scented bait, as well as the mobility of coyotes which don’t stay in one place for very long.

"It won’t get done overnight," he said.

In the meantime, residents are urged not to leave pets and young children unattended or food outside, to keep dogs leashed while walking them, and to store garbage in a shed or garage.

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