Mail service suspended in Carson neighborhood due to coyote encounters, USPS says

Mail delivery service has been completely stopped in one Carson neighborhood due to an increase in coyote encounters in the area, neighbors say. 

The quiet stretch of Moneta Avenue is now at the center of a dispute with the United States Postal Service after delivery was indefinitely put on hold, according to neighbors, who say it was a mistake. 

"Where's my mail?" asked 73-year-old Mike Bunnell, who was so surprised to see that his mail service had been suspended that he went to his local post office to challenge their claim. 

He says that he received a letter citing safety concerns over a dog on his property, but that the big problem is that he doesn't even own a dog. 

"There's no dog here. Not mine, I don't own a dog," he said. "This never happened."

When he spoke with USPS officials, he was told that there had been a mistake and that the incorrect letter was sent to residents on Moneta Ave. 

"They said they made a mistake, it wasn't supposed to be a dog letter, it was supposed to be a coyote letter, and I said I haven't seen any coyotes either," Bunnell said. 

The USPS claim, however, comes on the heels of a string of at least four coyote attacks in recent weeks, three of which involved children in the Carson area. After the series of attacks, California Department of Fish & Wildlife officials captured a coyote that they said was connected to three of the instances, and it was euthanized. 

Despite that, Bunnell and his neighbor, Tom Williams, who received the same notice, are frustrated by the inconvenience. 

"They're holding us responsible for wild animals in the community here," Williams said, noting that USPS employees told him service wouldn't resume until the issue is resolved. 

Now, after living in the same home for 74 years without issue, he says the problem has become one that could cost a pretty penny. 

"So we're going to have to pay a private pest control person to come out, four-five hundred dollars, up to a few thousand dollars, maybe more," Williams said. "And even if there was one that was caught, how do you know that was the one that was here? What is it going to take to get our mail back?"

USPS officials said that residents can continue to pick up their mail at their local post office.