D.C.'s Coyotes Get Comfy in Rock Creek Park

IT'S NOT ALL THAT SHOCKING that coyotes are living in the wilds and no-so-wild areas of Rock Creek Park in the middle of the District. While they've been active primarily in the park's massive northern end, in recent years, coyotes have been spotted as far south as Massachusetts Avenue. Just as D.C. is getting used to snakeheads in the Potomac, surviving confused deer rampages through Georgetown retailers, local coyotes, too, are adapting to city living.

As The Post's David A. Fahrenthold reports: "Coyotes are the most general kind of omnivore — like raccoons, if raccoons also ate rats and house pets." And they can be loud at night. Writes Fahrenthold:

The park's neighbors say it's obvious the coyotes are still there. They see the animals, which can resemble tall, skinny gray dogs, loping along side streets. And they hear drawn-out whines and repeated yips — which they say don't sound like the rasps and screams of the park's red foxes and come from too deep in the woods to be dogs.

If you really don't believe that there are coyotes in Rock Creek Park, here's video proof.

Video courtesy D.C. police officer Angelo Donadio, working the midnight shift at the edge of Rock Creek Park off Oregon Avenue.

» "Unexpected Urbanites: Cacophonous Coyotes" [WaPo]
» "Coyote Sightings in Park Spread Toward Embassies" [WaPo]
» "Eating Around: Tasty Snakehead?" [Free Ride/Express]
» "When Animals Run Amok" [Free Ride/Express]
» "Coyote Visits Rock Creek Park" [WaPo Video]

Posted By Michael Grass at 8:55 AM on April 16, 2007 Tagged in Free Ride , The District , Top Stories

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