Nature

Coyote Caught on Camera in Fort Worth Neighborhood Reminds Texans to Keep Their Pets Safe

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Tony Maples Photography

 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram posted a video to Facebook on Wednesday which was taken by a viewer in the Fort Worth neighborhood of Tanglewood. Their backyard security camera caught a coyote roaming around their porch and then trotting off. The footage serves as a reminder that even if you live in a suburban area, you’re still sharing your space with Texas wildlife, and it’s best to keep pets inside at night. Of course, it helps to keep them warm, and it can be a matter of life or death when a bigger, stronger, and wilder predator is around.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department explains that coyotes will be seen in urban areas due to humans’ rapid expansion into wild areas. “People continue to expand housing subdivisions and other human development into what used to be open range wildlife habitat, especially on the expanding fringes of large metropolitan areas. This is increasing the potential for encounters and conflicts between people and wildlife,” they write.

Coyotes can be caught and released in some cases, but the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says that education is truly the key when it comes to living harmoniously with these creatures in urban areas. The main points include keeping pets on a leash when walking them at night, picking up any food bowls left outside, and keeping compost piles covered.