Urban wildlife: 45-pound coyote caught in Atlanta neighborhood

A local wildlife trapper caught his third coyote in two weeks Sunday morning in Sandy Springs.

The 45-pound, gray coyote got caught in a trap near tennis courts on Winterthur Drive, said Tim Smith of CatchItWild.com.

He said a woman called him after losing pet cats, but homeowners associations have called, too.

“We’ve got serious coyote problems,” Smith said. “We get calls every day from people who have problems with missing d0gs and cats.”

Smith calls the Chattahoochee River a highway for coyotes. Since he started his Atlanta area business 14 years ago, he said he has seen dozens of wild coyotes.

Smith puts out traps he checks daily.

Euthanizing the wild animals is the only legal option, said Smith, who is licensed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

“It’s against the law to relocate coyotes,” he said. “We do have to put them down; that’s the hardest part of this job.”

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Ellen Eldridge

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