Coyotes follow the food, as do mountain lions, javelina and bobcats. In some cases, people make it easy for predators by feeding them or the prey they feed on.
Officials at the Arizona Game and Fish Department have long tried to discourage the feeding of wildlife. Animals expecting food from people can turn aggressive, said Jim deVos, recently retired as the agency’s chief of research.
Coyotes, for one are naturally shy and steer clear of people, he said.
“From being a coyote that’s kind of shy to being one that’s demanding, that’s when we end up frequently having bites,” Mr. deVos said.
Despite the dangers posed by feeding wildlife, there was little the agency could do to stop it. That is, until now. The governor signed into law this past session a ban on feeding wildlife in the state’s most urbanized counties — Maricopa and Pima.
The legislation was attached as amendment to a related bill (H2129), which increased penalties for poaching.
The feeding ban started out as S1438, sponsored by Sen. Toni Hellon, R-26.
“It was my second year of introducing it,” Ms. Hellon said. “The reason for it… if you feed wildlife and you live beside me, you’re endangering my pets and my grandchildren.”
In a news release, Game and Fish cited a number of incidents where feeding wild animals provoked attacks on humans.
Humans bitten
“Problems associated with wildlife feeding include coyote attacks on eight child victims in areas of Maricopa County, two recent Phoenix-area incidents where javelina bit humans who were hand-feeding them, and several human-mountain lion encounters in 2004 in Sabino Canyon and near an elementary school in the Tucson area,” the news release said.
The ban would make feeding wildlife a petty offense, with a fine of up to $300.
Ms. Hellon’s legislation nearly failed the second time around. The original bill she sponsored passed the Senate, but ran into a roadblock in the House Judiciary Committee, which got the bill on referral.
The chairman, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-22, declined to hear it.
So, Ms. Hellon went to Rep. Jerry Weiers, R-12, who had sponsored the bill to increase poaching fines. It had passed the House and was in the Senate. She sought his approval to attach her feeding ban to his bill as an amendment.
“He was very gracious to allow me to put the amendment on bill and support it when it came to the House for a final read,” Ms. Hellon said.
The new law does permit the feeding of tree squirrels and birds. Otherwise, officials can do more than tell people that it’s a bad idea to feed the critters; they can cite them as well.
“This bill puts a little teeth in it,” Ms. Hellon said.