Coyotes: Shoot or don't shoot?

ATLANTA — Some metro area homeowners want to know what they can and cannot do if a coyote is in their yard.

Carey Waters says there comes a time when a pet owner has to stand her ground.

"If I did see this in my yard, and it was attacking my dog, that would be my first thing -- to shoot it,” Waters said.

A few days back, she watched a coyote kill a fawn in the backyard of a Milton home.

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Sightings of the animals seem to have spiked around the metro, and right now the State Department of Natural Resources is holding what it calls a “Coyote Challenge,” encouraging hunters and trappers to take the animals.

"There is no closed season for coyotes. So, they could legally kill them from state law perspective.

But the local ordinances may prohibit the discharge of a weapon in that circumstance,” DNR Wildlife Biologist Charlie Killmaster said.

Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen looked into it, and several local police departments he called said their cities prohibit the discharge of firearms.

In the case of coyotes, the only exception was if the wild animal were attacking a person.

But protecting a pet from attack -- with a gun -- would not be legal.

"I get the laws. And I get nature taking its course. But, I don't know. Taking down a coyote because it's got my dog, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Carey Waters said.

DNR suggest homeowners check with the municipality they live in to know if they can legally shoot a coyote that’s in their neighborhood.

Cox Media Group