A peculiar issue has reared its scruffy head in Fairfax County: the coyote, and what to do about it.
Their presence may come as a surprise, considering the county’s rapidly urbanizing landscape and rising number of highways and subdivisions. But officials cite growing reports of the animal in the region, including in western and southern parts of the county.
The Board of Supervisors on Monday mulled the presence of coyotes, and the lack of a county policy on how to deal with them.
Coyote have actually been in the area for years, said Frank Crandall, a retired biologist and engineer who authored a chapter on wildlife in a recent Fairfax County environmental report.
He cautioned against seeing the coyote as just a menace. While they may attack the occasional small pet, he said coyotes may also, for example, help curb a swelling population of nonmigratory geese whose feces are polluting local waterways.
“I don’t think we’re having anything like a big invasion of these guys,” said Crandall. “I don’t think of them as being only an evil presence and something that has got to be stamped out at all costs, because actually they’re providing a very useful service.”
The populations appear to have originated in the Rocky Mountains, migrated toward the Pacific, and then made their way eastward across the county, where they are now entering the D.C. Metro region, according to Crandall.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerald Hyland on Monday said communities near George Washington’s Grist Mill have seen the creatures.
