Animal Control in Sterling Heights has recently received a number of reports of coyote sightings.
Ron Sarkisian is one of dozens that have heard about the wild animals being spotted in the city.
“When I first heard there was a sighting over here I said oh my goodness,” said Sarkisian. “First thing I thought of was the little dogs we have here in the neighborhood, because they will eat most anything, those coyotes.”
According to Sterling Heights Police, the wild animals have always been in the city.
“We are fortunate enough that we have a large park system here. Dodge Park being the biggest one and we have the Clinton River that flows through 36 square miles of this city goes from Lake St. Clair, all the way north into Oakland County,” said Lt James Belmonte. “So we have a wildlife system that comes through Sterling Heights. There’s always been coyotes in Sterling Heights,”
According to Sterling Heights Police, coyotes have no natural predators in the city and they cannot be hunted in the area.
They told 7 Action News the wild animals are in every county in Michigan now and there is a reason why people are spotting them more often.
You are starting to see more coyotes, you know, pop up,” said Lt. Belmonte. “This time of the year they become more prevalent because all of the leaves are off the trees. All of the grass has fallen down. People can see farther in the park system. people can see on the road when they look over.”
Police say you should be on the look out.
“The coyotes are not going to bother you, bother people per se,” said Lt. Belmonte. If they do get to a point where they bother people, they are an animal they will look to feed. They will take a smaller animal, a smaller cat, smaller dog if they could. So it is something to pay attention to.”
