IRMO, S.C. — On her way to drop off her kids at school this morning, Irmo resident Montana LaMothe spotted a coyote in the woods beside the Irmo Community Park.
LaMothe snapped these pictures from her car in order to share with residents that may walk their dogs there.
Coyotes reproduce in late winter. This gives them reason to be out and about around this time of year. Some residents were speculating that if they are seen in daylight, that means they have rabies. But that isn’t necessarily the case according to South Carolina Department of Natural Resource's Jay Butfiloski.
“It could mean a lot of things. Obviously we’ve had some inclement weather. The weather is changing as well, and its getting close to time for coyotes to start establishing dens to have young. So there could be a lot of things going on," Bufiloski tells us, "It doesn’t automatically mean anything that you saw them in the daytime, and if it was seen in the morning, you know, they can still be active in the morning time.”
If you happen to see one of these guys while you’re out, here are some tips Bufiloski gave us on what to do.
First- back away from it, but don’t turn and run because that could cause a chase response from the coyote.
Then- if you have a pet with you of any size… hold it close or pick it up and continue backing away.
Whatever you do, do not approach the animal.
The Town of Irmo’s Director of Public Services says that coyote sightings are nothing to be afraid of.
“They come in, they run through and they move on to wherever they’re living. So, nothing to be scared of, don’t ever try and approach one. They’ll move on when they see people. They want to be out in the wild they don’t want to be in our parks around people.”
For more information about how to handle these animals visit the DNR website here.
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