Siesta Key Association to host event after date has been set
With the consensus of the Sarasota County commissioners this week, representatives of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will appear at an upcoming public meeting on Siesta Key to discuss options for dealing with what Commissioner Mark Smith, a long-time resident of the island, has called a “serious situation.”
In July, before the board members took their annual four-week summer break, Smith won his colleagues’ support for County Administrator Jonathan Lewis or another administrative staff member to contact FWC about any steps that could be taken to deal with the growing number of coyotes on Siesta Key.
It’s becoming a dangerous situation,” Smith pointed out during his report to the other board members during their regular meeting on July 9 in Venice. On Siesta, Smith noted, “The coyotes are coming out more at night,” which is the same time when many of the visitors to the island are leaving accommodations to pursue a variety of activities.
“I could see this could eventually become a bad situation,” he added that day.
On Aug. 14, a report from Assistant County Administrator Brad Johnson about the staff response to that July discussion was completed, as shown in the agenda packet for the commission’s regular meeting on Aug. 27, also in Venice.
After staff conveyed to FWC the concerns about coyotes on Siesta Key — and inquired whether steps could be taken to remove the animals from the barrier island — the report said that “FWC suggested a public meeting be facilitated by their Senior Wildlife Assistance Biologist.”
After such a meeting was scheduled, the board report continued, staff would promote the event to residents.
On Aug. 27, after noting that the coyote problem was not confined to Siesta Key, Smith reported to his colleagues that he had contacted Catherine Luckner, president of the nonprofit Siesta Key Association (SKA), about coordinating and hosting the public meeting. Luckner agreed that the organization would do that, Smith added.
Therefore, he continued, he was seeking support from the other commissioners in directing administrative staff to extend a formal invitation to FWC representatives to talk with Siesta residents and perhaps people in other county neighborhoods.
“We have a coyote problem — I’m going to guess — in almost every neighborhood in Sarasota County,” Smith told his colleagues. “Until we get a handle on it,” he added, he expects residents will be using their own resources to try to get rid of the coyotes.
“I’m fearful of school children out at the bus stops, with their lunches, perhaps,” he continued. “[The coyotes are] very hungry,” he emphasized. Then, looking at Chair Michael Moran, Smith added, “They’ve been known to go through people’s trash cans, I hear.”
“We need for Fish and Wildlife to help us out,” Smith said.
In response to an inquiry from The Sarasota News Leader, Luckner, the SKA president, wrote in an Aug. 28 email that, as of that time, no date had been set for the meeting.
An FWC representative met with SKA members in February 2023, she noted, in the aftermath of a member of the organization reporting that his small dog had been killed by three coyotes.
She directed the News Leader to a page on the SKA website that provides information that FWC gave the nonprofit in regard to dealing with coyotes.
Plenty of support for the proposal
Following Smith’s Aug. 27 comments, Commissioner Neil Rainford immediately responded to Smith: “Couldn’t agree with you more.”
Rainford added that he believes residents in all five County Commission districts are dealing with coyotes, “but, hopefully, not every neighborhood. … I think being proactive makes sense.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Chair Moran added.
Moran then explained that, prior to the meeting’s start that day, he had mentioned to Smith an incident at his house this week: “I went to bed with a coyote [outside the previous night that was literally bigger than my black Lab, Rosie — it was huge — and woke up to it still, in my garbage this morning.”
(The American Kennel Club says that an average adult female Labrador retriever can be as tall as 23.5 inches and weigh as much as 70 pounds.)
Moran added that he was “in full support” of whatever steps the board members could ask county administrative staff to take to deal with the coyote problems, including setting up a process through which residents could be deputized, so they would have the authority to take measures to protect themselves and their animals.
County Administrator Lewis reminded the commissioners, “FWC is our subject matter expert on [this].” He did indicate that the Siesta meeting might be just the first of a number of sessions for residents around the county.
Lewis also said that administrative staff members would talk with Sheriff Kurt Hoffman, too, to determine whether the Sheriff’s Office can provide any assistance, even though “it’s FWC’s jurisdiction.”
Moran thanked Smith for bringing the problem to everyone’s attention. “It is a serious issue,” Moran stressed.