Residents concerned after family of coyotes move into southeast Edmonton backyard

A coyote emerges from underneath the deck of a home in the Larkspur area of southeast Edmonton (Source: Janice Blake).

A pair of seniors in the Larkspur neighbourhood of southeast Edmonton have had a new family move in next door: three coyote pups and their mother.

Nearby resident Janice Blake says she first saw the coyotes this week, noticing they had made a den under the deck of her neighbour's home.

"I was sitting in my family room, it's across from the patio doors, and I thought I saw something moving," Blake told CTV News. "I came closer.

"I said to Gary (my husband), I think there's a coyote on our fence," she added. "It jumped up on the shed over there and looked over at me."

"It was really close," Blake said. "It was quite big."

A few days later, Blake was looking out her window when she noticed a small coyote pup coming out from under her neighbour's deck.

"I could see one, and it looked smaller," she added. "So I waited, and then another one came out. And then another one, all from underneath the deck of the house behind us."

Blake says the mother usually leaves the pups in the morning and returns later in the day. In the early morning, the three pups will play in her neighbour's backyard until around noon, when they have a nap.

"The bigger of the three pups, he seems to be the first one up," Blake said. "He goes and suns himself up on the deck. They're living the life over there."

Coyotes emerge from underneath a deck of a home in the Larkspur area of southeast Edmonton (Source: Janice Blake).Unfortunately, Blake says the city's hands are tied when responding to the coyotes as the homeownership is officially registered as a numbered account.

"We don't know who the owners are," she said.

Without the property owner's permission, the city cannot take any action to move the coyotes to another site, Blake was told by park rangers.

"(That) backyard is falling apart," Blake said. "And that's what our house backs onto."

Coyote pups emerge from underneath the deck of a home in the Larkspur area of southeast Edmonton (Source: Janice Blake).

A coyote sits on the deck of a home in the Larkspur area of southeast Edmonton (Source: Janice Blake).

While Blake recognizes that the likelihood a coyote confronts an adult are slim, she says her neighbours with pets and young children are still worried about the coyote family being in such close proximity.

"We live here and we should feel really safe about ourselves and our pets and our children," Blake said. "Our neighbour next door is a senior like we are, and she's alone, and she's afraid to be in her backyard alone."

"There's gotta be some way that you can get over that and to do what has to be done for the safety of the majority."

As of Friday, there is no indication that the coyote family is aggressive, said Mark Torjusen, a city spokesperson.

"We have no confirmation to suggest they are denning on private property," Torjusen added in a statement to CTV News. "We are actively trying to track down the ownership of the property, so we can go on the property and assess."

If a coyote gets near Blake's cat, she's already got a plan.

"If it gets in the backyard and it grabs my cat, I'm not going to go over there and smack him in the head. I've got my baseball bat out. I've said to my husband, 'He's not going to take my cat.'"

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha