Typical Eastern Coyote
Are there coyotes living in New Hope? The consensus: probably.
Coyotes have lived in Pennsylvania since the 1940s, spreading out to the suburbs during the 1980s and 1990s.
Believe it or not, the Eastern Coyote is a wolf/coyote mix that’s larger than the western type, and it first emerged in Canada, then migrated south. They’ve actually been moving into areas already occupied by humans, probably including New Hope.
Just this past week, a rumor circulated of a coyote sighting in a forested area near Old Mill Road.
A New Hope police official hadn’t heard of a sighting there, but said, “We have had sightings in Riverwoods, but not very recently.”
Old Mill Road in New Hope
“There’s lots of coyotes in Solebury,” reported Solebury Police Detective Roy Ferrari. “I see them often.”
“We know they’re there,” said Cheryl Trewella, information and education supervisor for the Southeastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Game Commission.
“We picked up a road-killed coyote in Philadelphia,” she continued. “They have been around Bucks County for a long time. They’re very secretive and avoid people. You don’t see them, but they’re there.
“Contact with humans is very rare,” added Trewella. “They’re opportunistic, feeding on both animals and plants — mice, berries, insects — and even dead stuff.”
They’ve been also known to go after the occasional neighborhood cat left outdoors overnight, but that’s about as threatening as they get, according to the experts. Keeping garbage cans closed and Fluffy in the house at night may be good ideas, in any event.
And here’s a tip if you’re hankering to spot one: coyote paw prints are much like that of a domestic dog, but their scat is very different. Find out more at the P.A. Game Commission.
We spotted one around 9pm on Reeder Rd on 26-Nov-2016.
That’s like out behind the Giant? Lots of open land…
I saw a coyote yesterday in Milford Township on Barrel Run Trail.
Just observed a female dining on something in the field out back on Devonshire toward Stoneyhill. Think we have a hungry momma. She carried off the remains of her meal, mostly likely to her den.
Saw one in my backyard two days ago off of Stoney Hill Rd and most the neighborhood feral cats have gone missing over the past couple weeks.
There have been coyotes here since at least 2005. I hit and killed one with my car back then on Rt. 202 in New Hope. Solebury Police took the accident report back then as my car was damaged. This article is 10 years late. Though I didnt know it was a coyote initially as it wasn’t wearing roller skates with a ACME rocket strapped to its back. 🙂
We live on Lower Mountain Road between Street Rd. and Holicong and coyotes have been seen by neighbors. Their outside cat is now an insider!
We have heard coyotes the past 2 years on Old Mill Rd.
New Hope Boro. We have even seen one in the cornfields at the far end of Chestnut Street (also inside the Boro).