Shooting coyotes is, surprisingly, a poor way to reduce the population because of the way they react as a group. (I mentioned it in this story about attempts to regulate coyote hunting in the state; right now you can hunt coyotes any time you want.)
But that doesn’t stop people from trying – including the peninsular Massachusetts town of Nahant, where little dogs wear protective coats with spikes so that coyotes won’t grab them!
The story is here in the Globe, although (embarrassingly to the Globe) it’s a New York Times story..