SAMBRO, N.S. -- People who live in Sambro say they have reason to believe coyotes are on the rise in the Halifax area.
They say the wild animals are coming out during daylight, and residents say they want the government to do something about it, because the coyotes are getting closer to their homes.
"So I went out around the corner and the cat froze, and I just thought, is that one right in the back yard?" said Sambro resident Steve Horton. "And I could hear him prancing across the frosty grass."
Residents like Horton and Larry Smith say it's alarming.
"If there's nothing in the woods to hunt, where are they gonna go?" Smith said. "They over-killed everything, so they're going to come out in the community and they're going to take the pets, and hopefully nothing else. The tracks are right there, the school yard is right there."
Leslie Harnish, another Sambro resident, is worried about her dog, a little mini-golden doodle.
"We have to watch her very closely when we let her out to do her business and what not because she could be carried off quickly," Harnish said. "But I'm also more concerned with the children standing at the bus stop and these coyotes are trotting up the road in daytime hours."
Harnish reached out to municipal and provincial governments for a solution after spotting the coyotes in her own backyard.
Halifax Regional Coun. Steve Adams says this is his first time dealing with coyote sightings on such a large scale.
"There's been the odd sighting over the past couple of years and now it's actually a daily event," Adams said. "And more than one on a daily basis."
The area's MLA says he's been working with the Department of Natural Resources to come up with a solution.
"They did some tracking and things like that and they passed out information at the elementary school and to the community just to remind people not to leave your garbage left open and not to throw stuff outside," said Brendan Maguire.
Maguire says DNR will be working in the community over the next few days.
He says, if wildlife experts determine the coyotes are a problem, they'll likely live-trap the wild animals and release them elsewhere.
