Toronto runner captures tense standoff between coyote and raccoon

Toronto's heavily urbanized landscape still holds refuges of nature that often spill into city life, as one local resident learned on a recent run through his neighbourhood.

An Etobicoke resident was a firsthand witness to a tense standoff between a coyote and raccoon, and it was all caught on video. 

But fear not, animal lovers, as this story has a surprisingly non-violent outcome with Toronto's unofficial bandit-masked mascot emerging unscathed.

Matthew Gray-Smith, an instructional designer and avid runner residing in the Humber Bay Shores area, tells blogTO he encountered the unique animal interaction on one of his runs.

"I run six times per week, and it keeps me sane as my wife and I raise our three-week-old newborn baby boy, Xavier," Gray-Smith explains.

Gray-Smith says that, while running along Stephen Drive just west of the Humber River, he "saw the coyote start jogging along the sidewalk, more or less the same pace as myself but about 10 meters ahead of me."

It was at that point that he started recording a video of the interaction.

Toronto runner encounters coyote out in the streets
📹: Matthew Gray-Smith pic.twitter.com/zRFBE3QEP2

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 9, 2025

Gray-Smith says that, next, "the coyote then veered off to the right into a parking lot, next to a small apartment building, as it had caught sight of the raccoon[...]hanging out next to a dumpster."

"They then approached each other slowly, kind of like two cautious dogs meeting each other for the first time. That is when I took the photo of them squaring off with one another."

While Gray-Smith says he "thought it would come to blows," he ended up witnessing a surprisingly chill interaction between the two animals, "as they then approached each other more closely and were poised to attack, but they then began sniffing one another."

"After that, they kinda got bored and were more or less chilling out with each other, seen in the final photo I took."

But, like many special moments, it was a fleeting one.

"A few moments later, the coyote walked away back to the street," he explains.

"It was at this moment that the Kingsway Running Room group I was meeting with ran past, and as I linked up with them, they saw the coyote and shouted 'watch out!!!,' I then yelled back, 'Hey boys! Look at my new training buddy!'"

Gray-Smith's encounter comes amid a spike in coyote sightings across Toronto, including urbanized areas like Liberty Village, where residents expect to be further removed from nature.

In response to increased coyote sightings, the City commissioned a comprehensive review of its response to the wild canids between November 2024 and March 2025 to identify next steps.

It was revealed that "Up to four coyotes in the area have learned to associate humans with food because of direct and indirect feeding. The aggressive behaviour towards dogs was also found to be typical and timed with the reproductive season."

In March, the wildlife expert panel recommended the City immediately move forward with the procurement of a specialized team to assess these coyotes, remove access to food, repair fences, and improve education, among other measures.