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One coyote lounged on a Myers Park front porch. Another was spotted walking near rush-hour traffic in broad daylight.
Urban coyotes don't seem particularly afraid of people. But some Charlotte residents fear for their small children and pets.
They're also discovering county animal control doesn't respond to coyote calls, referring residents to state officials and private contractors who trap wildlife for a fee.
Coyotes are thriving in Charlotte as development steals habitat and new urban greenways teeming with deer and small prey provide a side door into neighborhoods. As a result, coyotes are eating small pets and terrifying residents who stumble upon them.
"They're very adaptive," said Jon Shaw, a state biologist responsible for Mecklenburg and nine other western counties. "They just learn to live in the presence of people."
Officials say the local coyote population - non-existent 15 years ago - has been increasing, though there's no official count. Residents are reporting them, and the number of nuisance calls into Shaw's office has been on the rise, even surpassing deer complaints last year.
Coyotes are not generally aggressive toward people, though a Union County man was bitten last year by a rabid one. Also, two coyotes attacked and killed a 19-year-old Canadian celebrity last month as she hiked alone in a Nova Scotia national park.
Other sporadic deaths have been reported over the years, but far more people each year are killed by dog attacks, Shaw says.
Even so, several South Park-area communities have been on alert: In the Beverly Woods East neighborhood, a cat was reportedly eaten by a coyote several weeks ago, prompting the pet owner to circulate a flier warning residents. The neighborhood association also sent a mass e-mail warning residents to be on the lookout.
"We had some reports of missing cats, and some early morning runners reported seeing them," said Mary Amos, an association board member. "We're pretty urban."
In the Mountainbrook neighborhood, a coyote seemed to march back and forth along the side of Highview Road last week during rush hour. Bill Ziegler, who lives near the intersection with Tinkerbell Lane, watched the scene from his porch.
"That road gets used a lot by dog owners and joggers," he said. "The coyote looked healthy, which is also scary, because it's eating well."
Recently, a family's golden retriever chased a deer into some brush at the McDowell Nature Preserve on York Road - only to be seen running back toward its owner with three coyotes in pursuit, said Don Seriff, Mecklenburg's natural resources supervisor. Spotting the dog's owner, the coyotes stopped and ran away, he said.
Mangy, with bushy tails
Coyotes often appear thin and mangy, with full bushy tails and narrow faces. They're taller than foxes and weigh from 25 to 45 pounds. They form small packs and can live on golf courses, in urban nature preserves and in neighborhoods with wooded areas close by.
Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control receives coyote complaints but doesn't usually respond, said spokeswoman Melissa Knicely. The agency deals mainly with domestic-animal issues, such as abused pets or barking dogs, she said. County workers will trap a coyote if it's been aggressive or injured, she said.
Coyote callers are directed to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which provides only advice and a list of trappers who for a fee will capture and relocate wild animals. It's also legal to do the trapping yourself from Nov.1 through February, or to shoot a coyote anytime outside the city limits.
Amos, the Beverly Woods East resident, said she researched what it would cost: One trapper quoted $185 to set the trap and $65 for every animal captured, she said.
"The city is not at all willing to help us with this battle," she said. "The trapper told me that when the cats thin out, they'll go after the small breed dogs."
Myers Park resident Beth Crigler said she saw a coyote lazily eating a squirrel on her front porch last month as she pulled into her Sharon Road driveway. At first she feared the dark bushy tail sticking out of the coyote's mouth belonged to Oreo, her black-and-white cat.
Honking the car horn didn't startle the coyote, which looked away disinterestedly. After finishing its meal, it ambled off.
Four hours later, Crigler took Ollie, her pug-beagle mix, out to his pen. She was armed with a field hockey stick. As they stepped into the pen, Ollie became agitated.
Suddenly, the coyote came running out of Ollie's dog house and brushed past Crigler's leg as she fended it off with the stick. It then leapt over the fence.
"I can't tell you who was being more the aggressor - the dog or the coyote. They were barking and lunging at each other," she said. "It took me several days not to walk outside without a golf club or a field hockey stick in my hand."
