Watch out for coyotes. A tipster tells us of three coyote pups spotted on Eagle Rock Way in Montclair last night.

Last night at around 9:45 pm, I saw 3 coyote pups darting back and forth across Eagle Rock Way, just south of Llewellyn Rd. I did report it to the DEP and they confirmed from my description that they were in fact coyote pups, not foxes. (Coyote pups are beige and gray with a tail that sticks out straight behind them. Their ears stand up, resembling large cat ears.) The pups were about the height of a medium sized dog but were very skinny with long legs. The person at the DEP has advised me not to let my small dog outside unattended even in our fenced in yard, especially at night. Also, she suggested we keep our property free of anything that might attract small animals or rodents, such as fallen fruit from a tree, dog food or unsecured garbage, as those are all things which will attract a coyote. Last, she recommended the use of mothballs or leaving a radio on as possible deterents, as well as banging on pots and pans if a coyote is actually present.

Coyotes were seen in the same area in February. Just this past weekend a six-year-old was attacked by a coyote in Rye, New York.

45 replies on “Coyote Pups Sighting On Eagle Rock Way”

  1. As long as folks in West Orange don’t start fueling paranoia about coyotes the way people who move into those atrocious McMansion developments up in Warren and Sussex County whine about black bears everything’ll be kosher.
    Be smart, secure your garbage, and mind your kids and pets. Heck, coyotes are a lot less dangerous than the predators that roam Watsessing Park in Bloomfield nowadays.

  2. What wonderful news. My congratulations for the coyote parents for their good fortune, not only for them personally but for the planet as well. I for one will not be leaving mothballs in my backyard. I shall leave a feast fit for a coyote king. And may all the other animals come and partake, too. Except the hairless ones on two feet, who can, as I heard someone say on television the other day, “suck it.”

  5. localguy, mathilda may be wacky (or a sly fox), but she’s ours, so pipe down.
    May you have a multitude of downward thumbs!

  6. Hey State Street Whatever, pipe down???
    Where I’m from, people keep their nose out of other people’s business. Unless they want it cut off, of course!
    Kapish?

  7. For your information, Lo-Cal Guy, I take the issue of our planet and its inhabitants very seriously indeed. If more people did, perhaps we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in now. The planet, in case you haven’t noticed, is in a death spiral. The overriding issue is not the safety of your children playing in the backyard, it’s the safety of the backyard itself — our collective backyard, the planet we live on. The problem is that most people, like you, live their little lives so narrowly that they don’t realize they are the villains in this tragedy. By your obsessive focus on petty concerns, you are allowing the human juggernaut to consume the very vessel that carries our civilization and all creatures through an otherwise empty, cold universe.
    Petty concerns, you say? Yes, petty. The loss of a few small children here and there is mere bagatelle next to the imminent loss of Mother Earth.

  9. It was you who threatened to cut off the nose of a perfectly gentle and law-abiding poster. For every behavior, I have learned, there is a reason. Perhaps you suffer from holoprosencephaly? Or perhaps you simply are experiencing the side effects the medication you take for cryptorchidism?

  11. If Mathilda ever disappears, I’ll be very sad indeed. So her posts are certainly entertaining to someone other than herself.
    You, on the other hand, post like someone who should be on facebook chatting with other 13-year-olds. [yawn]

  12. Hey K Bird, sounds as though you two could use some group therapy!
    As I told State Street guy, keep your nose out, unless…

  14. I think that clunking sound just now was the average IQ of this place dropping by about 20 points…

  16. Anyway. Back to the point of the story–it’s really surprising that the coyotes attacked that kid in Westchester. I wonder whether there will be more info about what might have provoked it, or whether neighbors may have been feeding them. Otherwise, they’re usually too afraid of people to attack, especially in a situation like this where there was a group of kids.
    Maybe what surprised me most was that a 6-year-old girl in Larchmont was actually allowed to play outside with her friends at 9 pm (which I think is good). I hope she recovers well; I can imagine how frightening that must have been.

  17. That’s what I’m talking about KatiebirdRex kid…now your talking sense!
    Not that sarcastic, what seemimngly stands for humor cum intelligence, pap that mathilda writes.
    See what I mean?
    Stay with it!!!

  19. There is actually a fox den right where the coyotes were sighted. Or perhaps the verb should in the past tense.

  20. Localguy, mathilda is precious. Deranged, sure, but endearingly so. You also mistake your obvious t3ndency towards verbal combativeness with genuine verbal skill. So you in contrast are deluded.
    And it is spelled “capisce,” not ‘kapish.’ It is from the Italian.

  21. cathar – save the spelling advice for someone who does not speak fluent Italian. I was spelling it phonetically for those such as you who need the help! From what I can tell, you can barely speak English!
    Capisci paisano???
    [portion of comment deleted due to its derogatory nature]

  23. [Portion of comment deleted by the editors.]
    And while you are much welcome to your awkwardly phrased pretensions to intelligence, I have in fact seen coyotes with more smarts and charm.

  24. Remember Vinny, that numbskull who reviewed movies in his SUV in the parking lot? localguy sounds like his evil twin.

  26. Certainly a lower level of discourse on this thread than usual.. In all seriousness, coyotes are not cute forest friends. Remember also, in our area, it is not a case of human encroachment into their territory, but an expansion of their range. Once the turkeys and smaller game arrive, there is a food supply and coyotes follow. Whereas foxes are harmless, coyotes aren’t. They have an annoying habit of eating house pets, and a six year old girl was attacked by one in her back yard in Rye, NY a few days ago. They’re clearly establishing themselves in the reservation and starting to explore the neighborhoods.
    In Westchester and CT, where they are more numerous, stories abound of coyotes tearing apart pets while their owners watch helplessly. I suspect that even the most naive starry-eyed romantic nature lover would quickly change their views after losing the family dog or cat to one of these predators.

  27. walleroo – shall I review a movie, not from a parking lot, but say, from a parking space in front of the Hinck Building or 501 Lounge?

  28. cathar – such a shame, posting at 1:35 am. Couldn’t sleep or watching re-runs of Viscont’s “Il Gattopardo” on TCM?
    Seems that you used Wiki to look up a few Italian writers and filmakers. That surpises given the presumption that one know how to read to use it!
    And as to you having “seen coyotes with more smarts and charm”, I am sure that you have given that like Romulus and Remus, you are most likely the offspring of a “lupo”….translation: she wolf!

  29. cncrnd: I agree that coyotes may be one of the harder wild animals in our area to love, given their tendency to do things like eatings dogs and cats. (That said, I still think they’re cool, even though I don’t want one hanging out around my yard.)
    But this is not a case of human encroachment?? How do you figure? Apex predators (which coyotes are, in this area) by nature tend to cover large territories. Coyotes are intelligent, opportunistic predators that are expanding into this area because there are fewer and fewer forest/open areas, and suburbs are rich sources of food. They may not have originated in the northeast, but they’re certainly being displaced from their original territories by development.
    Here’s a Nat’l Geographic article talking about myths and realities about coyotes in the NE.
    https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0806_020806_coyote.html

  30. Coyotes have spread eastwards because the suburbs give them more suitable habitat, not because they’re being pushed out of somewhere else.

  31. Methinks it’s both, actually. Coyotes are by nature quite shy and typically try to avoid contact with humans. Even though the suburbs provide a concentrated source of food, there are major drawbacks for them as well. But it’s a trade-off that’s obviously worthwhile for them, for now at least.
    If nothing else, they deserve some respect for their intelligence and adaptability.

  32. “Coyotes are far less of a threat than the dog next door. I think a person who sees a coyote should feel lucky. Coyotes are most active at night, at dawn, and at dusk; they avoid humans; and they’re often mistaken for dogs. So, even though they inhabit areas of high human density, they’re pretty much invisible.”
    -Matthew Gompper, assistant professor of mammalogy at the University of Missouri and an ecologist specializing in carnivores
    In my opinion, enough said.

  34. A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home and saw what I thought was a fox bolt out of my driveway and run across to the Van Vleck estate.
    After reading the descriptions, I’m pretty sure now it was a coyote pup.

  35. Jimmy,
    Apparently Professor Gompper never had his child being torn apart by a coyote (as happened in Rye) or has been unable to take his dog or children outside at dawn, dusk or night (as the coyotes have been sighted on my property).
    I don’t need that kind of luck.

  36. Of course you can go out at night! The coyotes will ignore you if you wear a steak around your neck.

  37. Our area could be considered to be fully developed generations ago. So..we’re not encroaching on anything. We also have a nice mix of parks, golf courses and nature reservations. We’ve also seen a number of species long absent from the area return, for example wild turkeys were successfully reintroduced and greatly expanded their range. Coyotes may be “cool” in their natural habitat, but they are definitely not cool in densely populated suburbs.
    I saw a huge one on my property in Litchfield last summer and it was an eye opener. I walked into the yard and basically came face to face with the animal. He showed no fear, checked me out, then jumped a stone wall, and continued to eye me from the woods.
    Prior to this encounter I had seen lots of coyotes in Arizona and Nevada, but this was different and unsettling. I called the police and they said that The number of reports had increased dramatically and told me the story that I related earlier about the dog torn apart in front of it’s owner.
    The last episode in Rye should be an eye opener. There were several children. The animal picked the smallest one and attacked her. If the mother hadn’t intervened the outcome could have been worse than the several serious bites that the girl received.

  38. I saw coyote in my backyard last night, ironically it was being walked by a large upright ape-like creature smelling a little bit like Limburger cheese. He had large feet and other parts usually associated with large feet. I left him alone to walk the coyote and told him to leave. He mentioned something about going to Eagle Rock, but I thought he was talking about the Eagle Rock Diner, or the bowling alley or that awful Pal’s Cabin.

  39. As with most controversial issues, some people want it both ways…in this instance, animal preservation AND human safety.
    While I do not seek the elimination of the coyote (or other species), I equally do not advocate that these creatures to be left to run free in populated areas where physical harm and or property damage can occur.
    That being said, surely there are reasonable ways to manage this problem…relocation, tracking, population control, etc.
    Let’s leave it up to the bioecologists to decide!

  40. As with most controversial issues, some people want it both ways…in this instance, animal preservation AND human safety.
    While I do not seek the elimination of the coyote (or other species), I equally do not advocate that these creatures to be left to run free in populated areas where physical harm and or property damage can occur.
    That being said, surely there are reasonable ways to manage this problem…relocation, tracking, population control, etc.
    Let’s leave it up to the bioecologists to decide!

  41. It drives me crazy that they can hunt deer to manage the population but won’t do a freakin’ thing about a predator like a coyote.

  42. Are these coyotes people are seeing, or foxes? I’ve seen foxes around Montclair, right on Lloyd Rd. I saw what I thought was a large fox on Llewellen Rd. It looked too small to be a coyote.
    Also, regarding “and they’re often mistaken for dogs.” They ARE dogs! So are wolves and foxes.

  43. Yes, there is a family of foxes whose den this spring was on the southeast corner of Llewellyn and Eagle Rock Way, but the latest varmints I’ve seen in the neighborhood are definitely coyotes, not foxes–the size is about the same, but the coloring is quite different. The foxes are red, the coyotes are a brownish beige. They do look like dogs, but with bushier tails. I saw 2 of the coyotes last night at the southwest corner of the same two roads.
    The only upside to having them around would be if they would kill the groundhogs that have been wreaking havoc on the garden–but leave the local cats and dogs (and kids!) alone. I’d also encourage them to scare off the deer….

  44. Apparently coyotes help to keep deer populations down as well. Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone has figured out a way to tell them they can eat these varmints but not those other varmints. 🙁 Which is too bad–I’m sure if they would limit their munching to deer in the reservation (which are culled by hunters every year to control population size), they’d be welcomed rather than feared.
    Speaking of varmints, did you know there’s actually a magazine called “Varmint Hunter”?

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