Montreal holding coyote information sessions in response to rise in sightings

If Montrealers are seeing more coyotes these days, it could be because moreMontrealers are feeding them, according to outdoor educator Jennifer Marchand.

"[Coyotes] understand that humans are not to be feared, that they can be fed by them, so they change their habits," Marchandsaid Sunday in Ahuntsic-Cartierville'sBasileRouthier Park, as she was giving an information session on the animals' presence in the city.

There has been a spate of coyote sightingsin the past year in Montreal, Marchand said.

• West Island coyote population on the rise
• Coyote sightings on the rise in 2017

Coyotes in Montreal are nothing new they're known to cross the des Prairies River from Laval along the train tracks and follow the rails into different parks at night, looking for food but several residents who saw them over thesummer noted the animals acted overly familiar.

No longer fearing humans as much

Some of the coyotes even went as far as following the residents, looking to be fed.

"We don't know why this is happening, really, this year," Marchand said. "The City of Montreal and [Quebec's Wildlife] Ministry are searching for the answer, but we only have hypotheses."

Development along the island's north shore may also be pushing coyotes out of the shadows and into the residents' sight lines,Marchandsaid.

The city has commissioned the organization Marchand works for, Guepe, to give information sessions like Sunday's in a number of Montreal parks so that residents can know what to do when they see one.

• Pack of coyotes in Cte Saint-Luc backyard prompts warning from city

Usually, a coyote will run away when someone approaches. But if they've been fed by humans before, that person may no longer seem like a threat.

'Be the predator you're supposed to be'

If a coyote draws near, Marchandurged people to"be the predator that you're supposed to be."

"You have to be big, you have to be loud and you have to [scare] them," she said.

Making noise and even throwing something near a coyote (not at it) can help, too. People with small dogs or cats should pick them up and carry them under their arms, Marchand said, as small petsare the size of coyotes' prey.

• VIDEO | Coyote attacks dog near Ecclestone Park in Kirkland

But coyotes rarely show aggression towards humans. They're nothing to be afraid of, said Marchand, althoughtheir presence can be startling because city residents aren't used toit.

The table Marchandwas at lined with the skins of a coyote, fox and wolf caught the attention of mileReid, who stopped by with his dad and siblings.

Reidtold Marchandhe'd seen a coyote on a street corner just the other day.

"I knew there were coyotes, but I didn't know there was an invasion in Ahuntsic," he said.

Marchandlaughed, but was quick to correct him, noting that whilepeople have been spotting the animals more frequently, there was no invasion.

milenoddedand remarked that if there were no coyotes "there would be an invasion of squirrels," which appeared to please Marchand.

Urban coyotes killed, trapped

Earlier, she'd told CBC News coyotes play an important role in the food chain by regulating the populations of their prey, which includemice, groundhogs, squirrels and rats.

Marchandsaid thatbiologists are still studying the best ways to deal with coyotes in urban areas.

• After getting stuck on Metro, fox takes bus to le Sainte-Hlne

Over the summer, two coyotes were killed by police and 10 were trapped and relocatedareas with more wildlife and little urban development in the Montrgie region.

Three of those 10 had to be euthanized because they were in such bad shape.

Marchandsaid police have a list of procedures to follow before they shoot an animal, so if the coyotes were shot, it must have been as a last recourse.

For now, Marchand said, relocating coyotes that get too close to humans is the best solution.