School teaching students coyote smarts

A Calgary school where children are reportedly feeding and teasing coyotes is teaching safety around urban wildlife.

Rideau Park School, an elementary and junior high in a southwest Calgary neighbourhood, has a field that borders a dense brush with trails leading to the Elbow River. It makes an ideal home for coyotes.

City alderman Barry Erskine said he's heard reports of children feeding, and at times teasing, coyotes when they wander on to the school grounds.

"What that results in is a huge adaptation of the animals to not have a fear of humans because humans become a source of food."

As the coyote population grows, people need to know such behaviour will increase the risk of an unpleasant encounter, he said.

In response to coyote sightings around the school, staff at Rideau Park earlier this year began teaching children why coyotes are coming into the communities, and what to do if they come face-to-face with the animals.

Students learn simple ways to avoid coming in contact with wildlife, such as making sure they don't leave food in the schoolyard and properly securing garbage bins. Staff are also taking extra training, including wilderness first aid.

"It's not a regular occurrence but we have encountered coyotes," said outdoor education teacher Marc Wyton. "The more kids are aware, the more likely their parents are going to be aware, but also as this becomes part of their regular life, they will adopt this as regular behaviours in adulthood."

It's common to spot coyotes in parks, around golf courses and along river valleys in Calgary. However, earlier this month a woman who had a family of coyotes move under her back deck near Fish Creek Park argued the problem is growing and the animals have become too bold.