Coyote Hunting

Is the name of the newest skill required by the NYPD, which will also expand by about 1200 people in the coming year to deal with the new threat of coyote-related terrorism. The 20+ hour chase that started around 9PM last night at a skating rink in Central Park finally came to an end this morning around a quarter to 10 when police sharpshooters finally tranquilized and captured the year-old, 35-pound coyote, now nicknamed Hal. At its height, the hunting party included police officers, sharpshooters, cameramen, park rangers and TV news helicopters.

The strange thing is that most authorities are uncertain about how the coyote made its way to the island of Manhattan. The current consensus is that it swam across to the island and then made its way down to the middle of Central Park, possibly covering more than 100 miles from its starting point. More interesting yet, it is believed that the coyote may have been chilling out in the park for a few days before it announced its presence to the city by jumping onto the Wollman Skating Rink on the east side of the park between 62^nd and 63^rd streets.

Actually this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. According to Stan Gehrt, assistant professor of wildlife ecology at Ohio State University in Columbus, coyotes are known for expanding their territory and over the past 30-40 years, are becoming accustomed to being in urban environments and surrounded by people. In the mid 80s, the city of Chicago dealt with about 20 coyotes a year, now that number if around 380 a year. No worries though, as while coyotes do prey on cats and some small dogs, there have been no urban based coyote attacks in recorded history in NYC nor Chicago. Coyotes are also known for being smart, which is probably why the police, and channel 4, had such trouble finding it.

Upper East Side Yorkshire terrier owners: time to hide your pets.