Photo courtesy of Heath Baker

Reports indicate the coyote population is increasing in the Greenfield section of Botetourt County.

Coyotes are increasingly on the prowl in the expanding suburban Greenfield community of Botetourt County, but state game officials say there's little they can do but encourage residents to hunt down the animals.

"Coyotes are everywhere," said Tony McFadden, game warden in Botetourt. "People are welcome to go out there and hunt the animal and harvest as many as they want. And if they don't hunt, they can try to find a friend who does hunt."

The lack of state and county involvement -- county officials refer complaints about coyotes to McFadden -- has frustrated Greenfield resident Jinny Boxley, who said coyotes have attacked her dog twice.

Boxley, who has lived in the community since 2001, said she's noticed a burgeoning coyote population over the past five years, with two coyote packs and possibly a third now roaming the fringes of the community. Boxley said up to six coyotes run in each pack, and she considers them a potential threat to residents, students at Greenfield Elementary School and anyone who uses the nearby park and trails.

"For five years I've been concerned -- nobody seems to be doing anything about it," she said.

Boxley invited coyote trapper Heath Baker onto her small farm, and Baker said he has caught and killed a half-dozen coyotes in the past two weeks but has made no dent in the population. "I could trap for two years and not catch half of them," he said. "It's getting worse every year."

Baker said he sells the hides for $20 and up.

The state considers coyotes a nuisance species and allows residents to hunt them. While some counties have bounties on coyotes to encourage residents to shoot them, Botetourt does not. Experts believe bounties do no good anyway, because coyotes react to declining populations by producing bigger litters.

McFadden said coyotes are skittish of humans and represent no real threat to them; coyotes prefer to target injured or smaller animals.

Baker agreed that coyotes are more of a threat to small livestock than people, but said they can still frighten folks not accustomed to them.

"I've been out in the woods and they'll surround me," he said. "It'll make the hair stand up on the back of your neck."