Brooklyn Park Woman’s Coyote Scare Draws Questions

For 22 years, Loreese Brandt has lived in a quiet neighborhood in Brooklyn Park, about two miles west of the Mississippi River.

“We kind of look out for each other for the most part,” Brandt said. “So it’s a good neighborhood.”

But around 2 a.m. on Sept. 18, Brandt had an unexpected encounter while sitting on her porch.

“I knew it was a deer, but I didn’t see it, because when I looked up it was already gone,” she said.

Yet it was what the deer was dragging that really caught his attention. A coyote was in her front yard, staring down at her

“I took this pillow and I went and threw it away,” Brandt said as he threw a pillow from his porch. “I went all the way [of the porch] and I threw it away like that. He didn’t move. »

When the cushion didn’t work, she opted for something bigger.

“At that point he wasn’t going to move so I grabbed this chair and threw it like this,” Brandt said as he threw a chair from his porch. “And he still wasn’t moving. He was just sitting there looking at me like I was crazy or something.

She then made great noises, went back into the house and the animal went away.

“I was terrified. I was really scared,” she said.

Common in the Twin Cities

According to John Moriarty, the Three Rivers Park District’s senior wildlife director, people shouldn’t be afraid of coyotes.

“A coyote probably regularly hunted a deer in his backyard,” Moriarty said. “And this is the first time that there is someone there. So it’s like, what are you doing here? And they won’t attack people.

Moriarty estimates there are hundreds of coyotes in the Northwest Metro. He says they are drawn to the area because of the easy access to food and shelter.

“The sheds, the outbuildings, they sometimes burrow underneath,” Moriarty said. “Coyotes like to make dens, so they burrow into the sides of hills,”

While people shouldn’t be afraid of coyotes, Moriarty says people should be aware of what attracts them.

“Leave trash outside, leave food for your pets. Some people still feed their cat or dog outside,” he said. “Well, that’s an open invitation for a coyote at night.”

He says humans and coyotes have coexisted for decades. Still, Brandt would rather not have to meet another coyote anytime soon.

“I don’t have pets myself, but I’ll definitely be more careful sitting on my porch late at night,” Brandt said.

For more information on urban coyotes, see the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.

Related: On the Road: Coyotes

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