And there I was thinking that hazing was reserved to college students willing to pick up an olive with their butt cheeks. Apparently, it’s something residents of Minnesota’s fourth largest city need to know, coyote-wise. “Bloomington residents have been warned of a possible serial pet killer at large,” startribune.com reports. “The suspect: a coyote not afraid to hop fences or snatch small dogs a mere few feet from owners who watch helplessly as their pets are carried away. Because of the city’s proximity to the Minnesota River Valley, coyote sightings aren’t uncommon in Bloomington, Deputy Police Chief Mike Hartley said. But after attacks on six dogs — five of them fatal — in southwest Bloomington since July 28, police alerted residents on Friday.” So, shoot the bastard/bitch? Uh . . .
“Recklessly discharging a firearm within a city of Minnesota is a felony offense,” cjglawoffice.com advises (for no fee). “In order to be found guilty of recklessly discharging a firearm within a municipality, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was some conscious or intentional act leading to the firearm discharging that created a substantial and unjustifiable risk, and the person causing the firearm discharge was aware of, but disregarded that risk.”
So, no shooting coyotes in Bloomington – unless you’re being attacked. “There’s no real easy solution, especially in an urban environment,” Deputy Police Chief Hartley said. Funny that no one’s mentioning Bloomington’s Animal Control Unit. Maybe that’s because they don’t see the four-legged varmints as, well, varmints.
Coyotes are one of nature’s ways of controlling nuisance wildlife populations, such as rabbits, small rodents and deer. They generally stay away from people and there have been no reports of coyotes being aggressive towards people in Bloomington or surrounding cities.
Sorry, but dogs are people too! Unless you’re a Gopher State SWAT team. Sorry, couldn’t resist.