USDA traps 2 coyote pups in Grand Rapids after teen bitten on trail

GRAND RAPIDS — Two coyote pups have been captured in the first week of trapping efforts in Grand Rapids, following reports of concerning coyote behavior near trails in the city’s southwest.

Grand Rapids Police and the Department of Natural Resources heavily patrolled the area of the coyote sightings after the first reports in late July, Police Captain Kevin Ott told the City Council on Monday, Aug. 11.

Multiple callers reported concerning activity on the trails north of West Rapids Elementary, including a coyote biting a teenager in the back of the leg.

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The patrols came up empty, but then more reports rolled in of sightings the first weekend of August.

So on Aug. 4, the city signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The city would pay $2,000 for the USDA to try to remove the coyotes.

The agreement allows the agency to use traps, tranquilizers, firearms, drones, cameras and night vision equipment.

Ott said the USDA has been using foothold traps.

The City Council formally approved the agreement at its meeting Monday.

The USDA also has trapping agreements with Grand Itasca, the Forest History Center, the Pillars and Oppidan, which will soon start construction on an apartment building in the area.

Ott said they recently found a den area, which may explain the coyote’s behavior.

“There’s three reasons [for the behavior]," he said in an interview Tuesday. "It’s food source, making sure people are staying away from their puppies or they’re extremely sick.”

Ott said the teen who was bitten has been getting rabies shots as a precaution.

The DNR will test the coyote once captured to determine if the animal can be relocated, according to Ott.

Mitigation activity will likely continue until the last week of August, just before school starts.