‘Too close for comfort’: Burlington coyote attacks likely result of feeding by humans

"The experts are convinced these localized attacks are coming from coyotes who have been conditioned to see humans as a food source."

Owen Barnes has come across two coyotes in the last month while walking through trails in his Burlington, Ont., neighbourhood.

In the first encounter, a scruffy one was entering the trail as Barnes was leaving and they spotted each other from about six metres away. Just days later, Barnes spotted another sitting under a bridge he was crossing.

Both times, he managed to leave without any further escalation, but the encounters left him rattled.

“It was too close for comfort,” he said in a phone interview.

Burlington, on the western edge of the Greater Toronto Area, has recorded what it said were its first reported coyote attacks on humans this year while seeing a significant rise in encounters with the animals.

The city has killed several coyotes responsible for aggressive behaviour, formed a task force that includes police and wildlife control professionals to deal with the issue, and is urging residents not to feed the animals – something it says is behind the rise in attacks on humans.

“When people feed coyotes, intentionally or unintentionally, coyotes become familiar with humans, are no longer afraid of humans and show more and more aggressive behaviour,” Carla Marshall, a communications adviser at the city, wrote in a statement.

“The experts are convinced these localized attacks are coming from coyotes who have been conditioned to see humans as a food source.”