IRVINE – Three children have been bitten and another has been scratched in an unusual spate of recent coyote attacks in Irvine, according to state officials.

All of the incidents resulting in minor injuries have occurred in the last six weeks in a two-mile area of the Portola Springs region in northeastern Irvine.

Nine coyotes have been caught and euthanized in connection with the attacks, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Capt. Rebecca Hartman said.

Relocating a problem coyote is not an option because it only moves the problem to someone else’s neighborhood, Hartman said.

“We err on the side of public safety,” she added explaining why the coyotes are euthanized.

The incidents in Irvine began May 22, when a 3-year-old girl walking with her parents near the intersection of Equinox and Silverado near Silverado Park was bitten on the back of the neck, according to Fish and Wildlife officials.

Shortly after that attack, Irvine resident Ann Laughlin told the Register that a coyote approached her as she walked her poodle outside on May 9 near Silverado Park.

The coyote walked along a sidewalk near the park, crossed the street and stood just a few feet away from Laughlin.

“The coyote wanted my puppy so I put my puppy on my shoulder,” she said. “I screamed really loud but the coyote was not fearful.”

Then on June 23, a 2-year-old boy was bitten on the knee and had his leg bruised while near a playground in the 200 block of Borrego.

On July 5, a 2 1/2 year-old boy was bitten several times on Keepsake in Irvine. That same day a 7-year-old girl was scratched by coyote that entered the family’s home on Denim through an open garage door.

The attacks occurred during “pupping season,” which extends from March to August and is the period when mothers hunt for food for their babies and become territorial, Janice Mackey, a spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife, said.

Urban sprawl encroaching on the coyotes’ natural habitat can drive them into residential neighborhoods in search of food, Mackey said. They also tend to live close to populated areas where food and water is abundant.

Some people make the mistake of feeding coyotes to stop them from attacking their pets, Hartman said.

Coyotes usually fear people, but will become more bold and aggressive if they associate humans with food.

Fish & Wildlife volunteers have distributed wildlife information to Irvine residents, and trappers have been sent to find and euthanize coyotes in the areas where the attacks occurred.

The only recorded coyote-related death in California happened in 1981 in the Chevy Chase Canyon area of Glendale, when a coyote attack killed a 3-year-old girl.

Reporters Louis Casiano and Alison Glander contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline