The nocturnal howls that awoke Lana Kuhlen from a dead sleep five months ago signaled a change in her Woodland Hills neighborhood.

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Coyotes were beginning to feast on her neighbor's ducks, chickens and cats, leaving the carcasses on neighborhood lawns. A determined coyote scaled a six-foot-tall fence to eat Kuhlen's own chicken.

The experiences did more than wake Kuhlen up. They launched her into a contentious citywide debate over the merits of wild animal trapping.

"It's a huge problem, it really is," said Kuhlen, who lives in Woodland Hills' flatlands, far from the customary rural habitat of the coyote. "I kind of feel like we have become the fast-food capital for coyotes out here."

In the past year, Kuhlen's complaints have been echoed repeatedly by distressed West San Fernando Valley residents, prompting the Los Angeles Board of Animal Regulation Commissioners to review its 10-month-old ban on coyote trapping.

At the heart of that review will be a question that cities throughout Southern California have struggled with for years: Can trapping and killing coyotes put an end to coyote problems? Or is public education about coexisting with coyotes more effective?

If Los Angeles officials look to other Southern California cities for guidance, they will find that most municipalities faced with coyote problems use traps on a limited basis, relying primarily on teaching residents the mechanics of getting along with \o7 Canis latrans.\f7

Of 27 Southern California cities with large wildlife populations, none completely ban coyote trapping. Yet animal control officials from those agencies stress that trapping is at best an ineffective, short-term solution.

By one estimate, trapping is successful only 10% of the time. Often, the traps snare more pets than coyotes. Moreover, when a coyote is killed, the remaining coyotes in the area tend to fill the void, usually with larger litters.

"I don't think trapping is effective," said Marsha Wyatt, a state humane officer with the Pomona Valley Humane Society. "When you move one adult coyote out . . . two juveniles will move in."

In Pasadena, animal control officials tried coyote trapping on a large scale about six years ago but found that only sick or injured coyotes were caught. Pasadena and other cities distribute brochures and pamphlets warning residents to put pets and pet food indoors at night, to fence yards and to keep garbage can lids secure, thus cutting off the coyotes' food supply.