Fernbank Holding March 7 Forum on 'Can Humans and Coyotes Coexist'

Coyotes have been a recurring topic of public conversation lately.

If you still want to know more, you should attend a March 7 forum at the Fernbank Science Center on "Fact and Fiction: Can Coyotes and Humans Coexist?"

Speakers will be Dr. Chris Mowry, a coyote researcher and chairman of the Berry College biology department, and Dr. Larry Wilson, Fernbank ecologist.

The event starts at 7 p.m. at Fernbank, 156 Heaton Park Drive, Atlanta.

For a close-up look at the coyote problem, check out the story that ran few days ago in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution with the headlne, "Coyotes Go From Predator To Prey."

The story by Mark Davis focuses on trapper Chip Elliott, who has spoken to several groups in Decatur. The story follows him as he handles a snared coyote in the woods.

The story says,

Elliott slipped the noose over its head and tightened the cord so that the creature understood: It couldn’t get away.

Elliott opened the trap and freed the paw. He carried the unmoving animal to his truck, slid it into a mesh cage and secured its door with a length of twisted wire.

For a moment the captive looked at its captor with wide, gleaming eyes.

Elliott repeats some of the information he's given homeowner groups in Decatur: eradication is a temporary measure, because more coyotes will move in to take the place of trapped animals.

"There are more coyotes coming," he says.