Mark Fortgang, who lives in the Brookdale corner of town sent us an email with a new wildlife alert: a coyote.
“I saw a healthy, young coyote walking up Wayland Drive this morning,” he wrote. “It came from Sutton Place, went up Wayland almost to Valhalla, and then went into a backyard heading towards the golf course. I tried to get a picture of it, but I was driving and it was moving pretty fast, but it was 100%, without a doubt, a coyote, so if people have outside pets in the neighborhood, they may want to keep them inside, especially at night.”
According to the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife, adult coyotes here typically weigh 20 to 50 pounds. They are said to adjust well to their surroundings, including the available food. Coyote’s usual prey are rabbits, mice, birds and other small animals, as well as young deer. But the NJDFW also notes that May is baby month for coyotes and that this is the time when “conflicts” between coyotes and humans are most likely to happen because coyote moms are out looking for food for their pups.
