To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

SALINA, N.Y. -- As the Town of Salina considers whether to allow the removal of coyotes from certain residential areas, one wildlife expert is urging people to reconsider their options.

For the last month, residents in Salina have been discussing whether they should hire a company to come in and kill what is thought to be an excess number of coyotes in the area. But wildlife control agent and coyote expert Elise Able says that is not the solution - and going that route could cause more harm than good.

Able said, "If the current coyote or coyotes are killed, what's going to happen is more coyotes are going to come in, because nature does not like a vacuum, and you've left and empty space, more coyotes will come in, and the town will have bigger problems than they started with when the transient coyotes start to move in."

Able said there is likely something drawing the animals to the area - a food source like garbage or a compost pile. She suggests the town narrow down what is attracting the coyotes, then remove that, rather than the animals themselves.