Living in Suburbia With the New Breed of Urban Coyotes
Coyote sightings have been on the increase in Westchester County and with a Sunday afternoon attack on a local family at a park playground in Mt. Pleasant, the issue of safety in the area has become paramount.
Sunday’s attack in Mt. Pleasant was fended off by an off-duty Irvington police officer after the coyote lunged at Kasey King-Petrellese’s three-year-old son and then bit her five-year-old daughter.
King-Petrellese kicked the animal in the face, knocking it to the ground when she saw it running at full speed towards her son, “like a cheetah,” she said. The animal fell to the ground stunned, but then jumped and lurched at her daughter, biting her arm and grabbing the collar of her coat with its teeth.
Officer Arcangelo Liberatore was able to pull the animal off the child and held it down until Mt. Pleasant police arrived. They shot the coyote and it was taken to the Westchester County Dept. of Health for testing.
Both children and their mother were given rabies shots.
Police have called the attack an isolated incident in the immediate area. Back in February/early March another series of attacks, on a human and animals, occurred in Yonkers. That coyote tested positive for rabies and was euthanized.
The earlier attacks and increased coyote sightings had caused Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner to hold a meeting last Wednesday to educate the public about coyote behavior. During the meeting Greenburgh Police Chief Chris McNerny said the town had obtained a permit to trap coyotes, but that videotaping of the animals had indicated there was no unusual behavior in the local coyote population.
Wildlife biologist for the NYS DEC, Kevin Clarke, also spoke at the meeting. Clarke explained that coyotes had come into New York about 70 to 80 years ago and had made their way into Westchester about 30 years ago. “They are relatively new to the area,” he said.
Explaining that most coyotes prefer to shy away from people, Clarke said they do become more aggressive, especially males in breeding pairs, during the spring, and he specifically referenced the month of April.
“Coyotes are on the landscape,” Clarke said, adding that people become frustrated that they have to change the way they do things to accommodate the situation. It is illegal to trap them without a permit.
To prevent the animals from coming into backyards, Clarke recommends not feeding pets outside, and keeping compost and trash unavailable. “Coyotes are carnivores and 90 percent of their diet is small mammals, but they also eat seeds and fruit and some vegetation,” he said. “They feel comfortable in small home ranges in urban areas, and parks and golf courses will attract them.”
Clarke was emphatic that dog owners should not construct invisible fences on their property. “The only thing an electric fence does,” he said, “is keep your dog from leaving your property. It does nothing to stop a predator from coming in.” Why put your dog in a position of vulnerability? he asked.
Clarke also advised people to maintain a distance from coyotes in their neighborhoods. Some people feed them and they become familiar in the territory, he said. But to keep everyone safe, it’s best for the animals to fear humans – so throw stones and yell loudly when you see them approach. Visit https://www.dec.ny.gov/press/112947.html for other advice to avoid coyote conflicts from the NYS DEC.
The coyote situation in Westchester will continue to be monitored. In the meantime Supervisor Feiner encourages residents to watch the Greenburgh YouTube presentation on coyotes at https://youtu.be/4YVHRWDQ-ok.
