TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Coyotes share our desert world --- but in one Tucson neighborhood they're getting so comfortable around humans that humans are becoming very uncomfortable.
Coyotes are part of the natural environment. But they also share the urban environment with us. In Tucson’s Palo Verde neighborhood they are concerned that Coyotes are getting far too comfortable being close to humans. They had a case just recently where a woman in a power wheelchair, with a dog felt so threatened by a pack of coyotes coming too close that a passing driver put the car between the pack and that woman.
A different resident, Alexandra Gjurasic is confident pictures she took are the same coyotes from that incident. She says she caught the images about ten minutes after the coyotes alarmed that woman in the wheelchair.
The Palo Verde Neighborhood between Grant and Speedway and Alvernon and Country Club has a group of coyotes that are making this human neighborhood, their neighborhood.
Randy Davis and his dog Addy live nearby and worry about when the coyotes show up.
"I just grabbed my dog because she's still pretty much a puppy and I didn't want her chasing after them so I grabbed my dog and got her inside. Cause I figured if they make eye contact or anything there might be trouble."
If you see a coyote your best bet is to make it not want to be around you. You can throw rocks at them. That's what Arizona Game and Fish recommends. If you planned ahead you can make a noisemaker out of an aluminum can with pebbles inside. That is enough to make them want to get away---and you need to get away too at this point but don't turn and run. That'll trigger their chase reflex. You want to be big, imposing and carefully back away.
Steve Zaporowski sees coyotes as part of desert life and says coyotes coming close seems out of character for the ones he's seen.
"In my experience here, probably 50 to 75 feet and they usually very wary of you and they'll keep their distance."
