North Kildonan concerns link park garbage, coyotes

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This article was published 21/07/2023 (826 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Complaints of overflowing garbage bins in Bunn’s Creek Centennial Park has led Winnipeg city hall on a search to secure funding for animal-resistant disposal containers to help keep coyotes away.

Two weeks ago, North Kildonan resident Keri Ottenbreit said she was taking a morning walk in the park, when she noticed the bins near picnic tables were piled high, with additional litter stacked against them.

“The city needs to be monitoring this,” said Ottenbreit, who also reported it to 311. “If a big wind comes up, this is all going to be scattered.”

A spokesperson from the City of Winnipeg said staff haven’t noticed any issues with coyotes going through garbage in parks.

Most garbage bins are emptied “as required,” and heavily used containers in larger parks or along active transportation routes, are typically emptied a few times per week, the city said.

Coyotes have become a city-wide topic of discussion, after two separate attacks on children in late June in North Kildonan. Manitoba Conservation has since trapped and killed at least five coyotes in the weeks since, with officials putting part of the blame on people “deliberately feeding them.”

Other residents in the neighbourhood who attended a “Co-existing with Coyotes” information session at the Gateway Community Centre last week also expressed concerns about overflowing garbage bins along the Northeast Pioneers Greenway.

Wildlife officials believe coyotes are eating leftover food items from family picnics in Bunn’s Creek, which is contributing to the animals becoming habituated.

Manitoba Conservation warned community members not to leave food dishes outside and to clean up pet waste in their yard daily, store garbage bins and compost where they are inaccessible to wildlife, and regularly pick up spilled bird seed or fallen fruit.

City hall is trying to secure funding from the province in the hopes of installing animal-resistant garbage disposal bins in the park by next summer, said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan).

Meantime, Browaty said he’s speaking to the city parks superintendent about increasing the number of available bins where there seems to be an overflow of garbage, to help prevent cases of wildlife feasting on food waste.

City staff may also monitor and empty the bins more closely during non-regular hours, especially during weekends, when families are often having gatherings in the parks, he said.

“We’re not able to eliminate all the coyotes in the area,” said Browaty. “So, let’s make sure that we’re responsible, so that we don’t get the problem coyotes that we saw were attacking the kids.”

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Two summers ago, North Kildonan resident Gerry Grossnegger had an encounter with a coyote in his back lane on McLeod Avenue, north of Rossmere Golf & Country Club.

Grossnegger was in his backyard when a coyote approached his cat on a leash through the chain link fence. The two animals went “nose to nose” before his long-haired black cat was able to swat the animal away.

After the incident, Grossnegger created a Facebook group called “Winnipeg Coyote Sightings” to report such encounters so people could be extra careful with their pets.

“It’s good to have that group so people know where the coyotes are,” he said.

tessa.adamski@freepress.mb.ca