Parents and pet owners are being asked to take precautions after a report of a coyote chasing a girl on a Richmond trail.
The sighting and experience was reported Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 3:45 p.m. on the Stanley Park Ecology Society coyote sighting map.
According to the posting, the “coyote moved toward, then chased, a girl who was running from it” in the greenbelt strip east of McMath secondary and west of Railway Avenue.
On the same sighting map, a police officer is said to have witnessed a coyote chasing “several different children” on Wednesday in the area of Quebec Street and 14th Avenue in Vancouver.
While coyote sightings across Richmond and Metro Vancouver are not unusual, it’s rare, say wildlife experts, for the typically timid creatures to attack humans.
The months leading up to spring are apparently mating season for coyotes, who can be a little more bold than usual at this time of year.
If a coyote does approach you, experts say you should make yourself appear large, put your arms in the air, make lots of noise and try and scare that coyote off.
It’s also advisable to keep your pets on a short leash and pick them up, if you can, if a coyote comes too close.
Above all else, the society reminds people not to feed the coyotes, as this erodes their inherent fear of humans.
According to the society, there are hundreds of urban coyotes in the Metro Vancouver area and mating season lasts into April.
