Following a recent talk at the Shelter Rock Public Library, Wild Dog Foundation director Frank Vincenti said there have been no recent instances of human interactions with coyotes or foxes on Long Island.
In July, coyotes were sighted in both Roslyn and North Hills, alarming residents and evoking responses from local municipalities and the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The animals are behaving normally now, Vincenti said.
Last month, a wild deer in East Hills also drew attention for rearing its head.
The public should be at ease and dispense any anxiety over the presence of coyotes, foxes and other wild animals that are considered rare to the area, Vincenti said.
The most recent sighting of a coyote outside of its typical environment came Dec. 23, when New York Police Department officers received a call for a vicious animal in the Hudson Yards area of Manhattan, according to the 10th Precinct’s Twitter.
Officers were able to barricade and tranquilize the unharmed coyote before transporting it to the Brooklyn Animal Shelter, the tweet read.
Vincenti said he was pleased to see how humanely and well the NYPD handled the situation.
The coyotes seen on Long Island and in places where they aren’t present in high numbers are most likely the spawn and younger generations of wild dogs located in the Bronx over the past 30 years, Vincenti said.
Coyotes are very good swimmers, utilizing an innate “doggie-paddle” style of swimming that members of the biological canid family have evolved, Vincenti said.
Though they most likely arrived on Long Island and in other boroughs via man-made structures like rails and bridges, the animals would have no problem crossing the Bronx Kill or East River at low tide, Vincenti said.
The suburbs are a good place for animals like the coyotes and deer, despite the counter-intuitiveness of the idea, Vincenti said. They are often limited by space and food, and areas like the North Shore provide opportunities to prey on smaller animals for coyotes and foxes, he added.
Coyotes, in particular, offer a service to residents, Vincenti said. The animals will often hunt geese and rats, controlling the vermin’s population in the area, as well as culling overgrown vegetation, he said.
In addition to the most recent talk Vincenti hosted a forum in August at the library to ease and educate residents and will continue to study and talk on coyotes, which he said he loves.
