Is there an increase in coyote sightings? A game warden explains
GREEN TREE, Pa. (KDKA) — The social media posts keep popping up, and so do the coyotes.
But are more coyotes moving in, or are we just more aware of them?
What's less than 4 miles away from the city and filled with coyotes? If you guessed Green Tree, you are right.
"We get them howling at night," Green Tree resident Phil Aley said. "That's the biggest thing, when there's a family of them out there."
Aley has lived on Warriors Road for 35 years, and his backyard looks like prime coyote real estate.
"Lots of deer down here in these woods and lots of other vermin," Aley said.
Neighbors in Green Tree started posting on social media about coyotes weeks ago, putting them on the radar of residents.
"When they hear about one down the street or in the neighborhood, they're more apt to look for it," Game Warden Sgt. Matt Kramer said.
Kramer said that does not mean there is any increase in the coyote population. He also wants to clear up one thing: Coyotes are not more aggressive in mating season. He said they are just hungry.
"Food resources are at their lowest point for any wildlife species, coyotes included, so from February to March it's a hard life out there in the woods," he said.
So, coyotes might expand their range to find food. And your neighbors could be doing something that attracts them.
"They leave that food out overnight for these critters and they're well intended but every raccoon, every possum, every rat and mouse in the neighborhood is going to come to that food source," Kramer said. "The next predator up the line is the coyote."
And they will go for any small cat or tiny dog. Kramer said unlike wolves, coyotes do not have a pack mentality. They do have families, and if you think removing them from your neighborhood will make them go away, Kramer said a new family will just move in.
