Residents keep wary eye on coyotes in Cape Coral neighborhood

An abandoned golf course is attracting coyotes to one Southwest Florida neighborhood.

Karen Donnelly always has her eyes peeled when she takes her dog Kazi for a walk. She said Kazi stares down coyotes who venture out into her southeast Cape Coral neighborhood off Country Club Boulevard.

“She’ll stop in the middle of the road and stare,” Donnelly said.

The coyotes have been a problem for years and she said she saw another one last week.

“We’re pushing coyotes out of their natural habitats so they’re going to come visit us in our neighborhood,” she said.

Margaret Pearce has seen coyotes standing in her front yard.

“At first I thought it was a loose dog, to be honest. We looked and looked and I thought that’s not a loose dog, that’s a coyote.”

She’s worried about them getting a hold of her dog, Piper.

“It’s scary because at night when you’re walking, there’s not a ton of street lights, so you don’t know. And if they’re out of their comfort zone, the animals, you don’t know what they’re going to do to the other animals.”

Pearce and Donnelly live just north of what used to be The Golf Club. People who live close by have reported 11 coyote sightings to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission so far this year.

One woman reported a coyote killed her neighbor’s cat.

“People tend to let their cats out at night. They think, ‘Oh, my cat has to go out.’ Your cat might not come home. That’s the sad realization of it,” Donnelly said.

She’s keeping a tight leash on her dogs for the wild ones that roam around them at night.

“We can all live in harmony together as long as we respect each other,” she said.

The FWC said coyotes rarely pose a threat to people. Most of the time, making loud noises will scare it away, but the animals can prey on your pets. The FWC said not to let your pets roam free or leave them alone in screened enclosures.