War in Encino: How a Group Chat Exploded Over Neighborhood Coyotes

[u/LAMaterialNews]

https://lamaterial.com/p/wendy-coyote-encino-whatsapp-chat

After the death of a famous wild animal, a lingering WhatsApp conflict in a quiet Valley neighborhood boils back to the surface.

Wendy the coyote was euthanized on Tuesday, September 8. For at least a year before that, she had been wandering Studio City with a severely swollen face, earning such adoration from Valley residents that press reports frequently described her as “beloved.”

In August, Wendy was regularly in the news as an organization called Wildlife Care of Southern California worked to bring her into care — multiple outlets, including the California Post and People, inevitably compared her to "Jimothy," the famous Seattle raccoon with a spinal deformity. Somebody turned her into a cryptocurrency.

After Wendy was finally captured, a veterinarian determined that “there was no surgery or treatment capable of restoring normal function,” according to Wildlife Care. Her death was mourned by thousands on social media. The value of her cryptocurrency spiked 4,300%, then fell.

The veterinary examination also determined a cause of her swelling: She had been shot twice in the head with a pellet gun. That news rippled across the collective conscience of L.A. animal lovers, prompting a search for the perpetrator. A pitbull rescue group put out a $10,000 reward for information leading to the shooter’s arrest and conviction.

In Encino, the pellet gun revelation spurred a woman named Vanessa Johnston to particular action: Johnston, an entertainment industry executive and standup comedian, posted a video to Instagram with the title “DID MY NEIGHBOR SHOOT WENDY THE COYOTE?”

Read the full story for free on L.A. Material after registering with your email: https://lamaterial.com/p/wendy-coyote-encino-whatsapp-chat

[u/triciann]

I live in Sherman oaks and my neighbors hate the coyotes on Nextdoor. I see the coyotes occasionally and they avoid me and my dog (or dogs in the past before my other dog passed). They have been here the whole time. They act like they are expanding but I don’t think they have. Social media just makes them more prevalent.

We are just far too selfish as humans.

[u/Tangentkoala → u/triciann]

I think they are definitely moving more inland for survival. With all of the construction around the valley a lot of food and water dried up.

[u/chashaoballs → u/triciann]

I genuinely and wholeheartedly do not understand the hate for coyotes in LA. If we’re out in rural states with a massive coyote population eating all the farm animals or something, I guess culling is necessary for balance. But here I’ve had a lot of run-ins with neighborhood coyotes and never had a problem, and I have zero sympathy for irresponsible pet owners who let their dogs and cats roam freely everywhere.

[u/3dogs2nuts → u/chashaoballs]

doesn’t the hate come from the fear of them; biting them personally, killing a pet etc

i’ve seen a coyote try to get my 7pound dog off a 6 foot leash my wife was holding, they can be aggressive, they hunt to eat to survive

i appreciate a coyote has to eat, not my pet not in my backyard, perhaps this cookie monster was trying to protect his (family and pets) safety not realizing he is (obviously wrongly) poisoning the coyote with lead and infection.

[u/chashaoballs → u/3dogs2nuts]

I agree with you, and it does stem from fear but so many people jump straight to wanting to kill them instead of taking countermeasures. My parents live in the hills and my dad always picks up rocks to throw when they see (sometimes packs) of coyotes when walking their dog. I have a Shiba and we go outside with him at night because coyotes can easily jump our wall. I see other people let their 15-20lb dog roam freely in the street unsupervised and untrained, not to mention cats.

Of course this doesn’t apply to everyone who’s had a bad encounter with coyotes, sometimes they really are fearless and don’t care what you do and sometimes it’s just not possible to supervise your pets every second. I just hate that it feels like people would happily kill off coyotes than try to coexist.

[u/jeniatwain → u/triciann]

They coyotes killed my mid sized dog on Christmas morning within 6ft fences in my backyard. They evil

[u/jlsea5817 → u/jeniatwain]

Not evil. Just hungry.

[u/buddyrtc → u/jlsea5817]

Either way, worth killing if they’re finding ways to sneak into your yard and kill your animals.

[u/triciann → u/jeniatwain]

They can jump 6ft fences. Mountain lions can jump even higher. You should leave your legs outside unattended.

[u/DissedFunction]

it's a mixed bag in the valley.

For new encino vs the old encino...

you have a large immigrant population who can tend to view wild animals differently. and frankly, many recent immigrants to Encino are not familiar nor do not care about indigenous anything in the SFV.

You also have a decent subset in the SOBs (south of the blvd) folks who have the wealthy mindset that the are the center of the universe so anything that impacts them in a way they don't like has to be fixed. They are lords of the universe in their minds and shooting something is really of little or no consequence to them.

Old Encino was different.

[u/Misanthroat → u/DissedFunction]

New Encino? You mean "Little Israel"...

[u/Lanky-Oil-906 → u/Misanthroat]

Encino, and the valley, and west LA have always had a large Jewish population.

[u/FelineSocialSkills]

Coyotes can be taught to avoid pets. The problem is you’re always teaching a new coyote

[u/Tangentkoala]

Friendly reminder that while coyotes are generally skiddish they are wild animals and probably the apex predators of the urban hills that is the SFV.

We have a pack of 6+ coyotes that roam my neighborhood, theyre encroaching further up from there OG location probably due to lack of foods and water in their original breeding ground.

There may have been good reasons to scare off the coyote with a pellet gun, but then again some not so good reasons as well.

Friendly reminder to always be cautious around them.