Fort Worth community cautiously coexisting with coyotes

Residents in one Fort Worth community are keeping a cautious eye on coyotes roaming their street, but are learning to coexist with them.

The North Fort Worth community is around 10 years old. With newer development nearby, the habitat for coyotes is shrinking.

Residents know to keep an eye on small pets because coyotes are just about everywhere.

John Womack knows living in North Fort Worth means occasional bike rides on a sunny day, but it also means occasional coyote sightings. He says his dogs know all too well.

“I remember several times at night hearing them bark, and it was the coyotes along the fence line with our dogs,” he said. “And I'm going, ‘I'm glad there's a fence there because this would be a problem.’"

Fort Worth City Councilman Cary Moon caught one on video Saturday morning near Heritage Trace Parkway. He believes it may be the same coyote that Womack saw.

Barry Alexander works with Fort Worth Code Compliance. He says seeing a coyote in that part of the city is nothing new. But with temperatures warming up, he says expect to see more of them.

“They get used to being around cars and people,” he said. “And even though they're still standoffish and you can't get close to him because they'll take off running, they're more prevalent now."

Coyotes have a high risk of carrying rabies. Alexander says residents have just learned to co-exist with them with certain things in mind.

"If they're small animals like kittens or really small dogs, if they're out running loose they could become a victim of a coyote,” he said.

Homeowner Alicia Ortiz has seen her fair share of coyotes.

“They'll stop kind of look at you, wondering what you're going to do. Then, they just take off,” she said. “You see the snakes. You see the bullfrogs. So there's little things here and there that really kind of set you back and say they're still nature around you."

There haven't been reports here of coyotes being aggressive toward humans. Anyone who may come across one that is acting strange or may have rabies is urged to contact Animal Control.

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