These coyotes are welcome - as air marshals

[depakid]

A flock of geese is a danger to any aircraft, but at Hook Field, a no-fly zone has been declared by unlikely air marshals: coyotes. That's right, the much-maligned animal notorious for devouring family pets has found a home at Middletown's city airport, and airport representatives couldn't be happier.

Hook Field manager Rick Bevis first noticed coyotes at the airport about seven years ago, when "thousands" of geese created an aviation nuisance. "Oh god, it was awful," Bevis said. "You can't imagine the amount of trouble that we had with the geese, not including the poo from the geese." Goose poo, Bevis said, is quite slippery and is not conducive to flight operations.

Enter coyotes and their primal message: geese that cross the airport fence line will be eaten. Soon the geese started to disappear. "You'd notice a piece or two lying around," Bevis noted.

Now there seems to be a happy life cycle around the runways of Hook Field, which host about 40,000 aircraft operations annually, according to the airport. Coyotes nab rabbits, moles, mice and other assorted critters. A pack of about eight coyotes thrives at the airport at any given time.

Comparable to a medium-sized dog, coyotes are found in all of Ohio's 88 counties, said Brett Beatty, assistant wildlife management supervisor with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Coyotes are typically fearful of human contact. Aviation law allows airports special dispensation in dealing with potential problem animals, with geese high on the list.

"Coyotes can also pose a threat," Beatty said. "But as long as they're not posing a safety or health issue on the airport, heck, why not have them there?" Bevis said the coyotes are welcome and rarely venture onto the flight tarmac. The geese are not welcome, but he's glad he doesn't have to shoot any.

More: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100606/NEWS01/6070301/Coyotes-keep-airport-geese-free

[petronius]

1. That's pretty smart, especially if the area around the airport is the sort

of environment that would have had coyotes anyway. I can imagine if this was a more suburban area they might get some pushback for providing coyote habitat...