Keisha Bentley was recently taking her kids to school at Anne Hathaway Public School and saw a surprising sight: a coyote between the manufacturer Hendrickson Spring and Stratford Municipal Golf Course.
Traffic was stopped for the coyote, Bentley told StratfordToday, though the animal quickly took off into the golf course.
Bentley’s sighting is not the only one in recent weeks. Stratford residents have taken to community Facebook groups to report sightings of coyotes in the city.
Mikayla Thompson managed to take a photo of a coyote at the same golf course.
It is not alarming, given the time of year.
According to Coyote Watch Canada, a not-for-profit wildlife organization that advocates for positive human-wildlife coexistence, February is mating season, with spring the time of year that pups are reared.
The Eastern Coyote is an intelligent and highly adaptive species, the organization points out. As Ontario changes and pushes out natural species from the environment, a vacuum in the ecosystem means that coyotes can flourish in urban or semi-urban settings.
They note that coyotes are curious animals and residents shouldn’t be surprised seeing coyotes watching events happening around them.
The organization recommends telling the local wildlife agency about any sighting, to keep information confidential in order to protect wildlife habitats or den sites, or to try aversion conditioning, such as scarring it away with loud noises, if the animal is spotted in an area that you are not comfortable with.
“If you are concerned that a coyote is paying too much attention to your small dog or child, pick them up and begin making loud noises and/or throwing objects toward (but not at) the coyote to scare it away,” Coyote Watch Canada recommends on its website. “Never turn your back on any dog - domestic or wild and run. Maintain direct eye contact, use strong verbal cues such as yelling (no screaming) and slowly back away.”
They ask not to disclose information on dens to avoid other residents with cruel intentions intervening, human feeding, or other destructive actions.
A representative from the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth said that so far they have not seen an uptick in calls related to coyotes, though given that it is breeding season, there may be more sightings than usual.
For more information, the humane society recommends visiting Coyote Watch Canada’s website.
