Assorted Coyote Sightings

by Don, Ryan, Laura, Peter B, Pam M
(Ajax, Penetanguishene, Oshawa, Mississauga, Brantford, Morven)

Don wrote to tell us ... I spotted a big coyote in front of my house just after midnight on March 1,2020. I shined my flashlight at it and he disappeared into the nearby woods. Some neighbours and I have also heard coyotes howling at night in recent weeks.

Last November Ryan from Penetanguishene wrote ... I will hear the Coyotes during the winter months and early spring very close to our home. I have setup trail cams and they are running in packs of 4 - 5. During the summer they must find another area to hunt in because all summer I didn't hear them at all and just last week they were back. Went for a walk in the bush and tracks are all over. Kind of curious as to where they may go during the summer.

Laura from Oshawa wrote ... my chocolate lab and I were walking around the track at G.L Roberts High School 3 evenings ago when I suddenly had an uneasy feeling that we weren't alone. I looked behind us and there was a coyote crouched down,50 feet away, another coyote a few feet behind him and about 5 or 6 coyotes on the other end of the track. I started yelling and only the 1st coyote got up and moved back a little. I started walking, looked back and the 1st 2 coyotes were growling, moving towards us again. I yelled, stomped my feet and waved my arms around, it didn't faze them and they kept coming. I panicked, turned and we ran (big mistake) because they did too. If it was not for the couple that heard me yelling for help, they may not have noticed the coyotes chasing us in time before we were attacked. The man ran towards the coyotes yelling and waving a large stick and they stopped, not retreating, but not following us after we crossed Oxford Street. They paced and they watched, not taking their eyes off my dog until we stood behind a truck out of sight. We waited about 45 minutes for the coyotes to finally take off so we could all walk safely back home.

One of our readers from Mississauga said ... I saw a coyote at Erindale Park walking in front of my car to the bush area then back past my car to the other side around 10:00 pm.

Wolf D wrote to tell us ... I live in rural Campbellville and we have quite a few coyotes on our property. Some even come into the yard as close as 30 feet from the house. You can also hear them at night sometimes.

Peter Bird from Brantford said ... I sighted a Coyote on Lyons Avenue on September 23, 2020. About 2 blocks away from Brantford General Hospital. The time was about 6:00 PM. It came trotting down the driveway across the street carrying something in its mouth but I couldn't tell what it was. I thought maybe a kitten or a puppy, but I'm not sure. At first glance, I thought it was a fox, but I estimated its weight to be about 40 lbs. Slim build, light-brown in colour. A very long very bushy tail with a white tip that touched the ground. It ran south on Lyons Avenue toward the CN railway tracks, where I lost sight of it. I did not manage to get a picture of it.Pam McCormick from Morven wrote to report ... we are located between Kingston and Napanee on a rural road. In the past week, I have seen a coyote walking along the edge of the woods that butts up to our backyard (approximately 75 feet from our house). It walks along sniffing the ground a bit, looks around and turns to go deeper into the woods. It appears to be the size of a small retriever but I have not been able to get a picture. We sometimes hear them at night but in the 23 years that we have lived here, I have not seen one on our property. My concern is we have 2 cats (that are now begrudgingly getting transitioned into indoor cats) and a small dog. I had been walking the dog on our trails through the woods but I'm now worried about doing that. Is it unusual to see a solitary coyote? How concerned should I be?