Palm Beach County woman says ‘very scary-looking’ coyote came close to her daughters amid rise in sightings

Residents near West Palm Beach are raising concerns after, they said, they have spotted and documented coyotes roaming their neighborhood.

Lakeside Green resident Giuliana Sisk didn’t expect her family to be neighbors with the furry predators. She said the wild animal came too close for comfort to her loved ones.

“[The coyote] is quite often right along this bank here,” she said. “It is very scary looking.”

Sisk has a picture that, she said, her mother took when a coyote approached her and her daughters on a walk in their neighborhood.

“It was showing its teeth. It was kind of coming close to my daughters,” she said.

Sisk said it makes her worried, as her daughters play in their yard.

“[If] I leave the girls playing in the backyard for a couple of seconds, the coyote could easily come and attack them, which is terrifying to me,” she said.

Sisk is not the only one in the area seeing coyotes. Cellphone video captured by a nearby resident shows a coyote being chased by an otter along a lake.

Wildlife specialist Noel Hanson said coyote sightings are ramping up in South Florida.

“Coyotes are here. They’re here to stay,” he said. “People are seeing them more and more frequently every year.”

Hanson said it’s because these animals adapt well in urban areas and have an abundant food source — like feral cats and Muscovy ducks.

“They’re scavengers. They’ll eat pretty much anything,” he said. “They go into garbage and all types of stuff.”

While they can look intimidating, Hanson said, people will just have to become acquainted with their four-legged neighbors.

“They’re really not considered dangerous to people in general,” he said. “It’s gonna be something that people are gonna have to kind of get used to seeing.”

Officials with the Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission say seeing a coyote is no cause for concern, but residents should make sure to report them if they become aggressive.