Coyote pups spotted walking in downtown Toronto
A beautiful family of wild coyotes have made their home in Toronto's west end, delighting local wildlife lovers and freaking out everybody else a little bit.
The coyotes – two adults and three young pups – were most recently captured on camera near the train tracks south of Sudbury Street, between West Queen West and Liberty Village.
Toronto resident Samantha Pegg says she was out walking her dog on Wednesday morning when she saw (and heard) the rambunctious crew. You'll want the audio on for this one. The little doggos are pretty cute when they try to howl with their full-grown parents.
Earlier this month, photos surfaced of these same pups (or others who look exactly like them) napping and playing in the nearby Fort York Community Garden.
Area gardeners told CBC Toronto at the time that their parents had arrived last spring, and that they'd been cordial neighbours ever since. As it turns out, coyotes are great for keeping rodents and rabbits away from crops.
Coyotes have also been spotted in and around Liberty Village recently, concerning at least one resident enough to post signs around the neighbourhood warning of their presence.
The City of Toronto advises that, while coyotes generally aren't a threat to humans, they "may approach pets that are not supervised, especially cats and small dogs."
"It is always a good idea to keep an eye on your pet while they are outside," reads the city's urban coyote information website. "It is very unlikely that a coyote will be attracted to a child; however, close supervision of children is also important."
Coyotes are a natural part of Toronto's urban landscape, according to the city, but reports of them are higher this year than usual according to Etobicoke counsellor Stephen Holyday.
Adult coyotes have also been seen in Regent Park, at the Humber Valley Golf Course and near the Etobicoke Creek this month — though again, this isn't all that unusual, or dangerous.
Attacks on people are very rare, according to The Humane Society, with more people being killed each year by golf balls and champagne corks each year than are even bitten by coyotes.
Samantha Pegg
