A playful Ontario coyote has vaulted to social media stardom as a video of the wild canid playing fetch with itself has captured the imagination of Internet users worldwide.
“I saw this guy playing on the hill while I was getting ready for work,” wrote Ontario-based YouTube user only identified by his or her handle Evnissyen. “It’s pretty rare to see a coyote this close to the house at all, and totally unexpected to see one playing with the neighbour-dog’s ball in broad daylight!”
The video, which has been viewed over 200,000 times in a matter of days, shows the animal carry the ball to the top of a small knoll three times and chase it as it rolls downhill.
“It’s very interesting, I haven’t seen that before,” said Brandon Williamson, a land management technician with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority who’s often called upon to respond to sightings of coyotes and coyote attacks.
(click to listen to the interview with Brandon Williamson)
Listen“Some questions come to mind. Did the owner put any attractant on the ball to sort of get the coyote to get after it? Or is it just an incident where the coyote is curious about things?”
Coyotes are curios by nature and could quite playful, said Lesley Sampson, who in 2008 co-founded the not-for-profit organization Coyote Watch Canada (CWC).
“Everyone who has a dog knows how playful they are,” said Sampson. “Their wild cousins are the same, it’s just that often we’re not comfortable stating that.”
Coyotes are fairly common in Ontario, mainly in forests and rural settings, but there is also plenty of coyotes in urban natural areas, riparian and river corridors, Williamson said.
He is called to deal with coyote sightings at least 20 times a year, Williamson said.
While coyotes are known to attack small house pets, attacks against humans are extremely rare, Williamson said.
“We did have one incident in the city of London last year where it was an alleged coyote, that information was not 100 per cent confirmed,” Williamson said. “But you will get coyotes following people along trails in the natural areas, especially, when someone is walking with a dog and often times the dog is off leash.”
He urges people to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings whenever they walk and hike in forested areas, along rivers or creeks, especially at dusk and dawn.
“Just be aware of your surroundings, carry a whistle, a cellphone if you can, and just familiarize yourself with the area, with the trails,” Williamson said. “If you’re walking with a pet, a dog, ensure that that dog is on a leash.”
To minimise the potential for conflicts between humans and coyotes, private property owners should be removing attractants from their backyards, keeping garbage in a closed container somewhere inside, removing any food and pet faeces from the yard so as to not attract the coyotes to the property, Williamson said.
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