Mt. Airy resident Rick S. Hock was taking his morning walk along St. Georges Road right off McCallum Street one late July morning, when he came across an unusual sight.
Standing 200 feet away from him was a coyote.
“I just stopped. I didn’t move any closer. All it did was cross the roadway,” he said. “It seemed to me if I didn’t bother it, it wasn’t going to bother me.”
Hock has lived in Mt. Airy since 1986. He volunteers with Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) every Wednesday, working on site restoration, and he periodically helps with The Friends of the Cresheim Trail’s efforts. This was his first time seeing a coyote, he said.
The eastern coyote is no stranger to Philadelphia. But as urban development increases, so does the number of sightings. Coyotes have been pushed out of their habitats and into closer proximity with people, said Mae Axelrod, director of communications at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.
Susan Slawinski, a biologist who also serves as volunteer and community outreach manager at the center, said, “They are very adaptable creatures. They prefer kind of woodland areas. But with urbanization, they adapted to the land around them, finding spaces to hide. So, they’re able to survive in very heavily populated places.”
Wissahickon Valley Park has been an especially popular spot for Philadelphia’s coyotes. Reported sightings by park users prompted Friends of the Wissahickon to make multiple Facebook announcements about coyote activity.
In a June 3 post, the organization wrote, “This is a reminder that the Wissahickon is a wild place with wildlife that calls the park their home. Be aware of your surroundings when you’re in the park and make sure to keep your dog on a leash.”
FOW posted again later that week saying the organization “has received multiple reports of a coyote approaching park visitors with dogs along the Cresheim Creek this week. All park users should use caution in this area, leash all dogs, and stay on trail. If you are approached, give the coyote space, back away, and do not run. Based on recent reports, no park users or their dogs have been harmed.”
The organization installed signs throughout the park, reminding visitors to leash their dogs and to remain cautious for coyotes, Hock said.
Jim Crown, state game warden for the Southeast region of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said Wissahickon Valley Park is an ideal breeding ground for the animal, with plenty of water and space to build dens. It also houses animals that coyotes prey on such as deer, squirrels, woodchucks, raccoons, birds and plant materials. “In a very urban, large, populated area. It’s kind of like a good little refuge,” Crown said.
Brian Boyd, a landscaper in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, said he’s witnessed the coyote population rise “drastically” in these neighborhoods, and they’ve been hunting in groups. A prime area is around the Andorra Woods neighborhood and Northwestern Avenue, near the tip of Wissahickon Park, he said. He counted at least seven coyotes there.
“Ten, 15 years ago, if you saw a coyote in this area, you go, ‘Wow, I saw a coyote.’ Now, you see one every day. I got them on my trail cameras at night time,” he said. Boyd added that coyotes are active at all hours of the day.
The Eastern coyote, or Canis latrans, is found in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The animal has been documented in Pennsylvania since the 1930s and is the largest canine in the state, with adult males weighing up to 55 pounds and females weighing up to 40. In Philadelphia, it’s the apex predator, or the top of the food chain.
Crown hasn’t seen a significant rise in reports in the past couple of years, but he said the population is likely increasing due to urbanization and the lack of predators.
What to do when you see a coyote
Crown said there’s usually an uptick in reported sightings in the late spring through the summer months, when coyotes have given birth and forage to support their litters. In the fall, the young disperse and search for their own territories.
Coyotes are typically harmless and “want nothing to do with humans,” Crown said. In his nearly four years at the game commission, he hasn’t received reports about coyotes attacking people or dogs in the area.
“People are a predator to a coyote. We’re much larger. They don’t want to interact with us,” he said. “I tell people all the time, as much as you might be scared of a coyote, that coyote is equally as scared of you as you are of it.”
Coyotes typically follow people and their dogs because their den is nearby and they want to ensure there’s no threat going near their pups. On rare occasions, a desperate coyote will seize cats or a small dog for food. Boyd once caught a coyote attacking an entire chicken coop on camera. “They’re getting more brazen,” he said.
Crown suggests keeping pets on leashes during walks and monitoring small pets outdoors. During a coyote encounter, he recommends making loud noises and waving your arms. Do not approach or feed it.
Humane Action Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization dedicated to animal protection, recommends installing backyard fences that are at least 6 feet tall and extend at least 6 inches underground to prevent digging.
When it comes to coyotes and other critters, keep pet food and garbage secure. Crown said leaving trash, especially food products, in the parks can attract coyotes because it draws smaller prey animals.
It’s legal to hunt coyotes most of the year with a general hunting license, but hunting animals is illegal at city-owned parks. If a coyote looks sick or exhibits concerning behavior, call the commission at 833-742-4868.
Black bears
A new apex predator may be expanding into Philadelphia. Boyd said he’s started seeing black bears on his cameras.
Crown said Bucks and Montgomery Counties have roughly five to 10 bear sightings per year during the summer, when the animals venture out to find new territory. But to his knowledge, there has not been a bear in Philadelphia County for at least three years.
Authorities caught a black bear in Philadelphia’s Andorra section in June 2019. There was a sighting in East Falls earlier that month.
Wildlife encounters
The Schuylkill Center rescues sick or injured wild animals every year through its Wildlife Clinic.
As of June 20, the center has treated 1,346 patients this year, Slawinski said, and that number has risen annually due to various factors. Urban development is causing more interactions between humans and wildlife, she said. Most of the injuries treated at the center are the result of vehicle collisions, window strikes, or domestic pet encounters.
“We strongly believe that it’s not a result of there being more animals, but rather just more space being removed from their selection. They don’t have as much habitat, which creates this increase in human conflict. We’re reducing the amount of resources, such as food. So, it’s not because we’re getting a lot more animals. It’s just there’s a lot more people,” she said.
Slawinski said the clinic commonly treats squirrels, turtles, and birds. Lately, they’ve received calls about injured birds that turn out to be fledglings, which are birds that have recently left the nest but can’t yet fly.
Abby Weiss is an environmental reporter for the Local and a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at Abby@chestnuthilllocal.com.
