A family from Toronto’s Christie Pits neighbourhood won’t soon forget their recent encounter with urban wildlife. Last Friday, Alice Kent and her son Rex Nelson spotted two coyote pups sleeping on a daybed on their deck. Kent lives on Pendrith Street, near Bloor Street West and Christie Street. She told CTV News Toronto they spent the better part of the day trying to shoo the pups away and contacted the Toronto Wildlife Centre for tips on how to ensure the coyotes do not stay in their property. “So we learned a lot about that, and we managed to get them off our deck by the end of the day,” she said. Kent said they didn’t see any coyotes on their property over the long weekend and they went about their usual business, which included leaving the front door open for their cleaner, who was booked to work on Tuesday at around 11 a.m. “She came in. We were chatting, catching up, and then my cleaner went upstairs to start on the job, and she pretty nonchalantly called down to me that there was a fox in my bedroom,” Kent said. ‘Shocked and surprised to see a coyote in the house’ “And that wasn’t something that I was expecting, and I thought maybe she was referring to a stuffed animal or something, so I went up to check it out, and no, it was a coyote. There was a coyote on my bed!” Kent, who was “quite shocked and surprised to see a coyote in the house,” said she shut the door of her bedroom. Unsure what to do, they decided to call the police, who then contacted the Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC) for further assistance. “We were thinking, you know, if it feels trapped, it might feel it might get aggressive or anxious and we decided to call the police. It just so happened Toronto Wildlife was up the street trying to catch the other pups because they all have mange,” she said. Sarcoptic mange, also known as canine scabies, is a treatable skin disease caused by microscopic mites that burrow under the skin of wild animals. It can lead to intense itching, hair loss, scabs and, in severe cases, infection and even death. Mange spreads quickly, especially among foxes and coyotes. Toronto police said at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday they responded to a call for an animal complaint at a residence near Christie Street and Bloor Street West area. “Officers attended with Toronto Animal Services in relation to information about a coyote that was inside a residence,” said a media officer, who indicated that this call was led by Toronto Animal Services, with the assistance of the police. Members of rescue team at TWC, which helps wild animals in the city that are sick, injured or orphaned, arrived a short time later with nets and snares in tow, and proceeded up to Kent’s bedroom. After a few tense moments they emerged, carrying the sick coyote out in a plastic crate. “I saw all of them shuffle into the room and they shut the door behind them, and I just heard a bunch of like rummaging around. They were like making a plan to get it out, and then like two minutes later, they opened the door, coyote in the kennel,” Nelson said. The wild canine, he said, appeared to be seeking help and was not behaving aggressively. In fact, he said it seemed to be “very docile.” Natalie Karvonen, TWC’s executive director, said some of her team members were in that area at the time, adding they were already aware of a family of coyotes suffering from mange that they’d been working to catch and treat. She added that her team has also been working to educate people in the area about not feeding coyotes, and other ways to prevent them from becoming acclimated to humans. “No matter how much we and other organizations plead and beg, you know, for them not to do it, there are some people that just won’t stop, and it is changing the behaviour of these coyotes and causing a lot of problems as a result,” Karvonen said, adding it is also a good idea to not let pets outside as they can be seen as a food item to a wild animal. She added that this was an easy situation where they were able to pick up the coyote and calmly remove it from the house. Then, they did a quick exam of the pup, determining that it had sarcoptic mange. “Our veterinary team was consulted back at the wildlife centre, and then the coyote was treated on site with the medication to combat this mange and then released back in the area to his family,” Karvonen said. Resident posted about ordeal online, urging people to not feed coyotes Kent, who posted about the ordeal on her local Facebook group, said there is likely someone in the area is feeding coyotes, prompting them to change their habits and interact with humans during the day. She noted that they aren’t feeding coyotes or even leaving water out for them. She also said they’ve come to understand that the coyote was unwell and probably just looking for a safe place to rest. That unexpected houseguest, however, did leave behind a “very stinky” mess, she shared. “I think that no one expects to have a coyote in their bedroom at any point in their life,” said Kent. Kent said they’ve also since ordered screen doors for the front and back doors of their home, “so that will be we’ll be able to leave our doors open without anything coming in.” With files from CTV’s Kim Phillips
