DENVER — A coyote ambling into a Chicago sandwich shop or taking up residence in New York's Central Park understandably creates a stir. But even here on the high plains of Colorado, where the animals are part of the landscape and figure prominently in Western lore, people are being taken aback by rising coyote encounters.
Due to suburban sprawl and a growth in numbers of both people and animals, a rash of coyote encounters has alarmed residents.
Wildlife officials are working to educate the public. Coyotes have always been here. They've adapted to urban landscapes and they prefer to avoid humans.
"Ninety-five percent of this problem is a human problem, and we really need to focus on that 95 percent to solve it," said Nicole Rosmarino, wildlife program director of WildEarth Guardians, an environmental group.
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Since December, four people in the Denver area have been nipped or bitten by coyotes.
State wildlife officers have killed seven coyotes. An eighth was killed by a sharpshooter hired by Greenwood Village, in Denver's southern suburbs.
Coyotes once were found primarily on the Great Plains and in the Southwest, but they've expanded their turf to most of North America. Populations of wolves, a fierce competitor, have shrunk, and swaths of forest have turned into coyote-friendly open spaces.
After generations of urban living, some coyotes navigate subdivisions as easily as the cacti and scrub oak of the high desert where their ancestors roamed.
In New York City, a coyote pup was found in the Bronx last year, and in 2006 police captured a coyote in Central Park. In California's San Bernardino County, two toddlers were reported injured in separate coyote incidents last year.
Coyote scat shows rodents are still their meal of choice, followed by deer, rabbits and birds. They view pets such as cats and dogs as competitors, not food.
Some facts about coyotes
• Coyotes are found throughout the United States, except Hawaii, and in most of Canada.
• In Colorado, coyotes are a game species and can be killed year-round with a license. Landowners can kill coyotes without a license if their property or livestock are threatened.
• Males are larger than females. The average size is 3 feet long and 18 inches high, ranging from 20 to 50 pounds.
• They are among the most vocal of land mammals, howling, barking and yipping to gather or signal their location.
• Coyotes usually pair for life and breed between January and March. Pups are born from April to mid-May.
Source: Colorado Division of Wildlife
COYOTES AT A GLANCE
