Most of us worry about raccoons getting into the garbage or a possum finding its way into the garage. Laura Conrad and her husband have a bigger problem. There’s a family of coyotes that has apparently set up permanent residence directly underneath their mobile home in Rancho Cucamonga, and after three to four weeks of phone calls and pleading, nobody has managed to get them out.
If you’ve ever had a squirrel in the attic, you know how unsettling it can be to hear scratching and movement somewhere you can’t see. Now imagine that sound coming from beneath your floor, and instead of a squirrel, it’s a den of wild coyotes staring back at you through the dark when you shine a flashlight underneath the house. That’s the reality Laura says she’s been living with, and she’s not just dealing with noise. She says the animals have caused damage to the underside of her home and left her with bug bites from her own efforts to flush them out.
What makes this one particularly rough is the timing. Laura is currently caring for her husband, who just returned home from the hospital, all while trying to figure out how to get a den of coyotes to relocate on their own accord, which, as it turns out, is not something they’re eager to do. She’s tried the usual home remedies too, wolf urine, vinegar, mothballs, you name it. According to her, none of it has worked so far.
The frustrating part of this story is less about the coyotes and more about the runaround Laura has gotten trying to get anyone to actually address it. She lives in a senior community, Alta Laguna, where coyote sightings are apparently common enough that nobody bats an eye. But a coyote passing through your yard is a very different problem than a coyote family taking up residence under your home.
Who’s Actually Responsible Here
Laura says park management told her the issue is her responsibility since she owns her mobile home rather than rents it. That’s a tough answer to hear when you’re dealing with wildlife damage on a property you don’t fully control the land under.
Meanwhile, Rancho Cucamonga’s Animal Services Department says the property management company needs to formally report the den to them and grant access so they can assess the situation. As of KTLA 5’s report, that hasn’t happened yet.
Why You Can’t Just Trap and Move Them Yourself
Here’s a wrinkle that surprises a lot of people: in California, it’s illegal for a private citizen to trap and relocate a coyote on their own. That job falls to the state, specifically the Department of Fish and Wildlife, who can get involved in certain cases once animal services makes their assessment.
There’s also a quieter reason some residents in situations like this hesitate to report a den in the first place. Doing so can sometimes lead to the animals being euthanized rather than relocated, which puts folks in a tough spot when all they want is for the coyotes to move along peacefully.
Where Things Stand Now
For now, Laura is stuck in limbo, not always feeling safe walking in and out of her own front door, waiting on a report that hasn’t been filed yet. It’s the kind of bureaucratic gridlock that would frustrate anyone, let alone someone already juggling a spouse’s recovery at home.
Hopefully this gets some attention and the right people show up to make an assessment soon. Nobody should have to share their crawlspace with a den of wildlife indefinitely.