With the northwest Bronx surrounded by some of the city’s largest parks, the city’s wildlife calls these greenspaces home.

That includes coyotes.

“[Y]ou’re surrounded by coyotes,” Sunny Carrao with the Parks Department’s Wildlife Unit said at a presentation before Community Board’s 7’s Parks Committee.

From nearby Van Cortlandt Park to Pelham Bay Park, coyotes have settled deep into the woods, said Carrao. It’s common to see the the four-legged feral dogs out in the open. Mating season is over, and coyotes are now scavenging for food for their new pups.

“They do what a coyote does best, and that’s avoiding people,” said Carrao. “They are naturally worried about humans, so there’s really nothing for people/residents to be super worried about.”

Some tips Carrao offered include:

• Don’t feed wildlife. “We don’t want people feeding wildlife intentionally, which people have been known to feed wildlife intentionally, and once that happens they look at all humans as a source of food and they begin to approach people,” said Corrao.
• Don’t Leave Out Food. “Coyotes are omnivores. They’re going to eat whatever they could find. Predominantly they’ll hunt small rats, rodents, squirrels. But if you have a garbage can that’s accessible, they’ll go into it,” said Corrao.
• Don’t Leave Small Pets Unattended. “This time of year, coyotes are going to see small dogs as a source of food and they’ll see large dogs as competitive or territorial,” said Corrao.
• Warding Them Off. “If a coyote does approach you it is best to try and scare them off. We call it hazing. So it’s everything from clapping your hands, waving your arms, you can pick up small rocks and throw at them. You want to keep coyotes wary of people,” said Corrao.
• Run. Running away will not cause a coyote to run.

The city Transportation Department and Health Department have joined Parks in spreading word on the presence of wildlife across the city’s green areas.

Editor’s Note: To learn more about wildlife across New York City, go to http://www1.nyc.gov/site/wildlifenyc/index.page. 

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.