Ellenvale residents concerned, not surprised, by coyote
Posted Jan 31, 2011 11:38:54 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Residents of Ellenvale Avenue in Dartmouth are concerned but not surprised that a coyote came wandering through their well-populated neighbourhood Sunday afternoon.
Barb Morris says it was just a matter of time.
“There are a lot of waterways here, because of the system they have to drain the water. There are a lot of animals. There’re raccoons, there’re ducks. I mean coyotes, there’re next,” said Morris. She says she’ll now keep a closer watch on her pet.
This is the first time she’s heard of one of the wild dogs in her neighbourhood, but she says she was wondering when it would happen.
“If they’re already in the city and they’re looking for food, obviously. People have to be very careful about what they do with compost,” said Morris.
The Department of Natural Resources says the area is full of green spaces between the houses, corridors and walking trails which animals can use to travel to look for food.
Human wildlife conflict biologist Mike Boudreau says the coyote in this instance was not bold and did not display any aggressive tendencies. He says it was in someone’s backyard when the homeowner spooked it. It fled into the street where it was struck by a vehicle. It was badly injured and police shot the animal at the scene.
“My granddaughter and I saw it on the way home, yesterday,” George told News 957. “It was laying up on the road when we came by. It was pretty lifeless. It’s a little concerning, but I don’t worry too much about that stuff. There are a lot of trees in this area. We see a lot of wildlife around here all the time.”
The neighbourhood also sees a lot of children. Between 400 and 500 students attend Ellenvale Junior High School and Brookhouse Elementary School.
“Somebody could definitely get hurt. If them coyotes are coming this close to this kind of population and this suburb, yes,” said Crossing guard Maurice Munroe.
