Coyote sightings at Wissahickon Valley Park prompt reminder that it’s ‘a wild place’

Todd Bernstein has lived around Wissahickon Valley Park for decades, with the last 21 years spent on the border of West Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill.

But a sound suddenly stopped him when he was running in the park three months ago: coyotes howling and yipping. It was the first time Bernstein had encountered them in the Wissahickon.

“I was running my usual 4:15, 4:30 a.m. trot,” recalled Bernstein, founder of the nonprofit civic group Global Citizen. “The sound was unmistakably coyotes. There had to be at least three. It sounded pretty deep in the woods and it was astounding. I mean, I was just kind of blown away.”

Coyotes continue to be seen in and around Wissahickon Valley Park, with some neighbors saying that sightings are increasing.

Although coyotes have been in the area, and through much of Philadelphia, for years, some say they have only noticed them recently.

Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW), which helps manage the park with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, reminded park users this week that the gorge and its surroundings are a wild place.

“We’ve received reports of coyote activity in the park,” FOW posted on Facebook. “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 followed with a second post saying it “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.”

Sarah Marley, interim director of FOW, said the initial post was prompted by a daytime encounter this week between a hiker and a coyote on one of the park’s trails near Cresheim Creek. The woman, who was not harmed, called the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“She was in proximity of a large coyote,” Marley said. “And I had heard anecdotally that other people have been seeing coyotes. We just thought it was a good opportunity to remind people that they should be … aware that there are wild animals in the space and to respect. We like to respect the wildlife in their home.”

Gretel DeRuiter, who lives along the park near Bernstein, said she first noticed coyotes last fall and saw them as recently as Wednesday morning. She has lived in the area for 40 years.

“The first time I heard them, I thought that it was animals being abused.” DeRuiter said. “I’d never heard it before. It sounded like there were 50 of them, but it was probably like six. The sound escalates. It’s like they feed off each other’s energy.”

She described the sound as a cacophonous combination of yipping and howling.

Coyotes are not new to Philly, as they have made their way along various Philadelphia parkland and out by the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Still, neighbors said appearances by coyotes, especially more than a lone animal, are relatively new and seem to be increasing.

» READ MORE: The (likely) coyote of Upper Roxborough

DeRuiter said she is wary about possible encounters with pets. One neighbor told her a coyote was staring at her dog through a fence.

“They locked eyes,” DeRuiter said.

The Eastern coyote, Canis latrans, is found throughout the northeastern U.S. and Canada, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. It is essentially an immigrant hybrid, the result of breeding between coyotes and gray wolves, and is the largest wild canine found in Pennsylvania.

Males can weigh up to 55 pounds, females up to 40 pounds. They range from 48 to 60 inches in length.

The coyote population is growing, according to the game commission. Coyotes rarely attack humans but do have encounters with pets.

They mostly feast on mice, voles, rabbits, woodchucks, and birds.

Deer meat has been found in a majority of coyote scat analyzed in the state — little surprise given Pennsylvania’s significant deer population. Deer are subject to getting hit by vehicles. They die of disease, starvation, and other natural causes, making them easy targets for coyotes.

One person who replied to the FOW Facebook notice said he saw “a couple coyotes try to jump an injured fawn” in another part of the city. The fawn, he said, was traveling with an adult deer and escaped.

It is legal to hunt coyotes in Pennsylvania during most of the year, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, with a general hunting license.

Lt. William A. Car, a game warden with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said the coyote the Wissahickon hiker encountered was not threatening and “was comfortable with people, which is not unusual.”

He said coyotes are at ease venturing into backyards and elsewhere.

Car said there might be more recent reports because now is the time of year when coyotes are foraging to feed their young, which can bring them out in daylight. There is little to fear from coyotes, Car said, unless they are behaving strangely. They can carry rabies like many other animals.

“Just keep your dog on a leash and everything will be fine if you encounter a coyote,” Car said. “Announce yourself and walk away. Don’t run. And enjoy the encounter. It’s something special that you don’t see very often. There’s no reason to be afraid.”

Meanwhile, the coyote encounters continue.

Bernstein said his wife and daughters were on the porch Tuesday night, and they could hear the sounds of coyotes.

“They heard at least two or three,” he said.