Almaden too close to nature for comfort

The reports from Almaden Valley are alarming. Coyotes stalking little kids in gated townhouse communities. Sharp-tusked wild pigs rototilling the lawns of million-dollar estates. Foxes, skunks and bobcats turning this suburban paradise into San Jose's own little Wild Kingdom.

``I get up in the middle of the night and peek through my window to see what's out there,'' said Rosemary Gardner, whose enclave of custom-built homes has been terrorized lately by what she describes as marauding wild pigs. ``First we had wild turkeys, but they were scared away by the pigs. These guys with horns, they're out for blood.''

Nowhere is the urban-rural battle more heated than at the Villas of Almaden, the self-described ``welcome retreat from the fast pace of Silicon Valley.'' Last week, nervous residents unsuccessfully lobbied the city for help in trapping a pack of coyotes that have reportedly devoured 25 family cats, attacked a leashed dog and even shadowed grandparents taking their grandchild for a stroll.

Panic is in the air.

``Coyotes have been spotted outside people's garages, waiting for them to take their dogs for a walk,'' said retiree Arthur Woodward, who moved to the Villas 10 years ago because he found it an ``oasis in the middle of a metropolitan area.''

But ever since coyotes moved in, he won't let his cat Boots roam outside alone.

``I've been approached by a coyote walking down this street in the middle of the day,'' Woodward said as he hosed down his driveway and shouted at a driver to obey the 15 mph speed limit. ``They've chosen to move into an urbanized environment, but if we want to prevent a tragedy, a solution must be found.''

None seems close at hand. The city council voted against allowing the use of padded-steel leg traps to catch and then euthanize the coyotes. Some officials blamed residents for feeding the birds which drop the birdseed which attracts the deer which draws the coyotes. Wildlife activists advocated gentler approaches to booting the coyotes, like having the Villas' pets spayed or neutered and even sprinkling cayenne pepper on the ground.

Meanwhile, hysteria is gathering.

``We'll end up doing nothing until a catastrophe takes place,'' said Yvonne James, chairwoman of the landscape committee for the 192-home complex atop the wooded hills at Meridian Avenue and Coleman Road. ``The coyotes have established themselves here and are becoming very friendly and forward -- well, at least they're forward.''

Like many of her neighbors, James sees no end in sight to their wildlife woes.

``I'd like to be hopeful, but the coyotes won't just pack up and leave. . . . As far as I'm concerned, they can start paying association fees.''

Residents move into these townhouses, some valued as high as $950,000, in part because of the abundance of birds, squirrels and deer, some of them featured on the development's Web site. Villas resident Stanford ``Stony'' Crane, chief technology officer at a Silicon Valley firm, said he bought here ``because I could stand on my porch and watch deer and hawks and wild turkeys. We had 200 geese on this block a while ago; it was hilarious.''

``Unfortunately, predators are the next logical step,'' he said, ``and you need to maintain a balance and find a way to gently remove them.''

The irony, of course, is that you can't simply turn down nature if it gets too hot. Kriss Costa, community resource specialist for the Santa Clara County Vector Control District, said although residents ``are not necessarily in the coyotes' habitat, the coyote will adapt if there is food readily available.''

As long as there are coyotes in the nearby hills, humans occasionally will have to deal with them in their yards.

``We need to modify the behavior of the humans,'' Costa said. ``Someone is feeding feral cats in there, so there's both cat food and cats for the coyote to feed on. It's not just the deer they're after -- if you were going to chase a cat or a deer for food, which one would you go after?''

Some Villas residents, however, say they've already tried cutting off the coyotes' food supply and now it's time to take off the gloves. ``I don't see anything wrong with using traps because the coyotes are invading our privacy,'' Nancy Rowe said. ``I love wildlife. Just not too much wildlife.''

Both humorous and hair-raising tales abound of stand-offs and showdowns. ``One resident was stalked by a coyote while walking her dog, Mac,'' James said, ``and she ran all the way back to her house. . . . But the coyote still came right up to the garage because little Mac was edible and the coyote knew it.''

With no clear solution in sight, city officials are pushing education and the continued use of more humane box traps, even though the coyotes so far have proven too sly for that trick. Costa said authorities take seriously the threat coyotes pose. Referring to past attacks throughout the state, Costa said ``after pets, history has shown us, come children.''

Still, she said, beyond encouraging homeowners to eradicate food sources and hiding places for the coyotes, ``our hands are tied. We're investigating the use of snare traps, but we're trying to comply with the city's rules. And it's not just the Villas that are having problems. It's all over Almaden Valley.''

That's not what Gardner needs to hear right now.

``This is getting to be very scary,'' she said of her nightly visitors. ``It's like Almaden Valley is under attack.''