‘They have no fear’: Homeowners concerned as coyotes create den in neighborhood wall

LAS VEGAS, Nev. ( KVVU /Gray News) - Residents in a neighborhood in Las Vegas Valley are concerned about their new neighbors: a pack of coyotes who have turned their community into their daily stomping grounds.

According to residents, the pack has made their den inside a wall along a flood wash, using holes in the wall to get in and out.

Since the coyote family moved in about two months ago, the animals are often seen in the morning and at dusk. Residents have encountered them on daily walks and neighborhood cats have gone missing.

Doug Swift can see the coyotes come in and out of the holes and the coyotes from his yard.

"They have no fear. They'll come out, they'll stand 10 yards away while I'm working out here, and I'll throw rocks at them. They come closer. I think they think somebody's feeding them," he said.

Swift put up additional fencing on top of his brick wall to prevent coyotes from jumping into his yard.

"The hole is a perfect den for them. It's well protected, and it's a perfect hunting ground," Swift said. "They have the wash, which is a 'superhighway' through the whole city."

As residents work to rid the neighborhood of the coyotes' den, questions about whose responsibility it is to patch the wall are brought up.

A county spokesperson called the entire wall structure "private property" and, therefore, the responsibility is of a property owner or HOA.

The community HOA said that in their research on the county assessor's website, the outer wall falls onto county property.

Swift filed a "Fix It" complaint through the county website, and a representative told him that public works will take a look at the issue.

Residents also called the Nevada Department of Wildlife to remove the coyotes.

"Except in cases where there is a bona fide public safety threat – and coyote bites are rare - removing coyotes is a last measure," Doug Nielsen, a spokesperson for the department said. "Relocation is never an option. These animals are a rabies vector and highly territorial. If the decision is made to remove a coyote, the animal will be euthanized."

Nielsen said that residents can hire a pest control company to remove the coyotes, since they are considered a varmint.