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The police sent an alert to residents late on Monday to warn them and to give general advice about what to do to prevent an unwanted negative interaction with the animal.
If a coyote approaches, the most important thing to remember is to not feed it, and if it is near your house, to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the animal to be on your property. Pets shouldn’t be permitted should run free and should be fed indoors until the threat is over.
Coyotes avoid confrontation, so if one approaches you, it could be sick. If that happens, you should behave aggressively, making loud noises, waving your arms, throwing sticks, banging pans or spraying water from a hose at the animal.
Birdseed attracts coyotes, because it provides a concentration of birds and rodents, so feeding the birds should be avoided or at least limited. If you do, you should clean up waste and spillage underneath the feeder. Garbage also attracts coyotes, so you should make it inaccessible.
Children should be taught to keep their distance from coyotes, and neighbors should spread this information to fellow neighbors, the police advised.
According to the state Department of Environmental Control, an average of 650 people are hospitalized with one person being fatally wounded by coyotes each year in New York. Only a handful of coyote attacks occur yearly.
Any sightings should be reported to the Eastchester Police Department at (914) 961-3464.
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