Residents have come to expect such encounters in the hillside locales, even if they are only occasional. What would be unnerving, however, would be to come face-to-face with such an animal in a residential neighborhood.

Los Gatos residents appear to be getting very close to just such a possibility. There is evidence that coyotes are on the prowl in the area, and that they are roaming into neighborhoods where they are preying on domestic pets.

The coyotes are moving down out of the hills where they have been seen in packs and have been heard howling at night. The remains of cats and dogs are evidence that the scavengers have invaded residential areas.

Town officials need to do something, and they need to do it now. While coyotes are not considered a serious threat to humans, there have been reports that the animals are becoming more aggressive and less intimidated in interactions with people.

While Santa Clara County Vector Control is aware of the situation, there is little the agency can do to curtail the problem. Because of a town ordinance that prohibits the use of traps to capture the animals, vector control's hands are tied.

The purpose of the ordinance is admirable—to curtail the use of steel and leg-hold traps that foster inhumane treatment of animals. But vector control now uses rubber leg traps to capture wild creatures.

The ordinance in Los Gatos follows the California Fish and Game code that specifically outlaws the use of the steel traps. But an error of omission in that ordinance is a section of the California Fish and Game code that allows for the use of the more humane traps. Because of that omission county, state, federal and town agencies cannot set traps for the invading coyotes.

"What they did was they took the state law and actually made it stronger by not putting in that section," said Mike Phillips, vector control wildlife technician, in a story in today's Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

While that story goes on to say that San Jose is changing a similar ordinance to allow the use of the traps—coyotes have also been seen in neighborhoods in the Almaden area—Los Gatos officials have indicated that there are no plans yet to change the ordinance here.

It is not our intention to overreact nor to unnecessarily frighten residents, but it seems that coyotes are already a real danger to small pets in town, and if they are traveling in packs, they could pose a threat to small children.

The town needs to act now to change its ordinance and allow vector control to do its job and control the coyote population—before the unthinkable becomes a Los Gatos reality.