Kenner hires trapper due to influx of coyotes and hogs
By Ashley Hamilton,
5 hours ago
KENNER, La. ( WGNO ) — Kenner residents say the city is being taken over by not only coyotes, but wild hogs.
“We’re not just talking one or two. Like in some other neighborhoods. We’re talking a huge pack,” said Kenner resident Samantha Miller Lemoine.
Lemoine says coyotes and hogs have been terrorizing her neighborhood for some time, but in the past few weeks, the number of animals has grown.
“The coyotes are consistently out in the evening. Like right around when it turns dark and the hogs tend to be early in the morning and then kind of right when it turns dark,” said Lemoine.
A neighbor down the street says he had to save his dog from a coyote attack. In his backyard, hogs have dug multiple holes while searching for June bugs.
“A crunching noise woke me up. They must have had about a dozen of them back here on the ground. And it was so loud. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe it. Look at the damage done. I can’t even cut my grass. What I was doing a couple of days work,” said Kenner resident Wayne.
Due to the increased presence of animals, the City of Kenner has hired Trapper John Schmidt’s team. Schmidt tells us coyotes are a danger to pets, and hogs are extremely dangerous to humans.
“If they think they’re locked in a yard or if you would come up against them and they think they can’t run away, they’re going to attack you. They’re going to come at you like a bulldozer,” said Schmidt.
Lemoine says she’s happy to hear the news but believes more will need to be done.
“The pack of coyotes we have, if it’s 20 plus, you can’t just trap one at a time. They are going to be keen on it. So that’s a little concerning unless I can see that they have a huge trap that’s going to trap more than one or two at a time,” said Lemoine.
Schmidt says that the city of Kenner has only hired his team for a month. He adds that the city will need to work with trappers long-term to really make a big difference.
“We can most certainly get you know, we can get these animals. But the minute we get off of them, they’re just going to some new ones and are going to wander back in because they’re expanding their territories. What they need is a long-term maintenance plan. When they show up, we get them,” said Schmidt.
Anyone who sees a coyote in their neighborhood should notify the city. Problems can be reported at https://kennerla.qscend.com/311 .
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