The coyote population has doubled in the last year, according to a local animal expert, because there are no main predators. This is a trend expecting to continue. Also, more coyotes are spotting around The Gateway to the West.

You May Find a Coyote, or Ten, Waiting for you at the Gateway to the West

About 10 coyotes were caught outside Janet Freeman’s Fairview Heights home in just the last month.

“I’m afraid for us if they are stalking our neighbor, especially, we have small children in the area. It makes me afraid for our pets,” said Freeman.

“It’s about how close the coyotes are to getting to her home that has her worried but not so much how many coyotes she’s seeing.”

“They don’t care if you see them or not, it seems like they’re getting bolder,” said Freeman.

The Gateway to the West: Wildlife Command Center

The Wildlife Command Center was calling by Freeman. It’s coyote mating season said owner Michael Beran. There are cold temperatures. Also, coyotes are also looking for food.

“Moreover, they go after small raccoons, stray cats, they go after small dogs, and when I say small dogs, I mean 35 pounds and under,” said Beran.

The Gateway to the West: 28 Coyote Calls

Therefore, Beran said his company has responded to about 28 coyote calls in 2020, also in January the Command Center responded to them of this year alone. Moreover, eight were trapped near a home in East St. Louis, and his crews trapped them. Moreover, a video shared on social media by a man in Maryland Heights after he said coyotes took down a deer in his girlfriend’s backyard.

The Gateway to the West: More People are Seeing the Coyotes

“What has not increased is the population of the animals more than it normally does. Yet what happens is more eyes, more people are seeing them more frequently because they are home,” said Beran.

Moreover, a coyote broke into a West County woman’s basement in January 2020 in a rare cause. This was after getting into a fight with the neighbor’s dog.

A Town and County woman was shocking to find a coyote hiding in her basement after getting into a fight with a neighbor’s dog.