Coyotes seen and heard

by Several of our Readers
(Mississauga, Brampton, Windsor, East York, Cambridge)

From Ottawa A.C. wrote ... I live in the west end of Ottawa, near Hunt Club and Woodroffe. For years I have seen the coyote on the bike path that leads up and down the greenspace many times. I have also seen many missing cat signs and seen many animal remains/carcasses left along the path. I hadn't seen the coyote in quite a while but had just started recently to get warnings from many dog walkers; pedestrians that the coyote was in our immediate area roaming our paths, even in broad daylight. Seems it has little fear; more curiosity. Then last night I had my own closest encounter yet with it. Around 7:30pm I was walking my 2 small dogs and came face to face with the coyote just as it emerged from around a corner possibly out of the bush I presume. It was shocking. I casually turned and started to walk away from it, giving it a chance to hide so it wouldn't feel threatened. It seemed to hesitate towards the bush but then decided to follow us instead. It may have been curious about whether my two small dogs were potential prey. I had to stop twice and turn to face it to scare it off by yelling loudly and flailing my arms. It then stopped pursuing; crossed the road and went into the other field which is also along the pedestrian/bike path in our residential area. I would just like to warn people to keep their small animals on a leash and keep cats indoors. The coyote has also roamed off the paths right into the residential areas and has been spotted at the park going through the garbage. I do feel a warning sign would be wise.

A reader from Mississauga wrote to say ... 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 pm.

One of our readers from Brampton wrote ... One of our readers reported Coyotes in the Voden / Rutherford area ... there are two coyotes that have been in the area for over a month now. I see them fairly often in the evening (9pm to 11pm) and morning (5am or so) running around Harold S. Lauder school and walking up Archdeken from the school to Vodden. The smaller of the two, which I'm guessing is the female, keeps a good distance from most people, but the much larger (presumably male) of the two gets rather bold and has gotten as close as 12-15 feet to me and my large dog. They are certainly getting more comfortable being around people, dogs, cars and noises typical in a residential area.A reader wrote to say ... I was walking to catch the bus to work one winter morning around 4:00 am and within 5 minutes of walking down Wanless, I see a large wolf-looking animal (I say wolf because of the body shape and bushy fur) and it ran really fast IMO across the street into a ravine area. So I crossed the street halfway and started walking down the median. Seconds later or a minute later, I look back and another one, a bit slower, starts to cross the street into the ravine. I told a friend about it but the friend said there are no wolves around, only coyotes! This was almost 8 months ago before I really knew what a coyote/coywolf was. Fast forward to August and I see one running past my backyard fence at around 12:00 am, which isn't even fully developed yet. A lot of my neighbours have little dogs and children in their homes. What is the "great" city of Brampton actually doing about this problem? I understand Brampton used to be a big farm but it is now a growing city, can we make some adjustments or do we go about protecting ourselves our own way?? Lol, This is crazy!

One of our readers from Windsor wrote ... I was walking my dog this evening near Ontario Street and Ford Blvd. I heard what sounded like a small pack of coyotes calling together around 9:30 pm to the south of me. There is a large schoolyard and railroad tracks in that direction. I heard them calling two separate times about 15 minutes apart. I am familiar with what a pack of coyote sounds like at night and these were yipping and barking in unison. They were not dogs. I had never heard of coyotes being in the city limits of Windsor before so I looked it up online and found this website. I wanted to add my comment. I cannot verify what I heard 100% but I am very sure that's what it was. I love and respect wild animals including coyotes but I also have a small dog and worry about her safety, and other domestic animals in our area.

A reader from the Topham Park area of East York wrote ... there is at least 2 young pups an 2 adults. Recently attacked and kill a small dog in its back yard. Stalked an adult man and his dog as they walked in an area park. Getting braver approaching people. They are not leaving the area and have been here over a month.

A reader from Cambridge wrote ... my property backs on to Shades Mill and I have seen a coyote crossing the ice. I have heard coyote howling on more than one occasion at night. I am a little concerned about letting the dogs in the backyard.