ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A video posted to the neighborhood community social app Nextdoor shows a group of coyotes walking through a Belleair Bluffs neighborhood in Pinellas County late Tuesday night.
Coyote sightings in Pinellas County and all over Florida are common, but the animals pose threats to domestic pets.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says encounters between people and coyotes are occurring more often. Feeding coyotes is illegal as they will eventually lose their fear of humans.
Coyotes help maintain balanced ecosystems by controlling the populations of rodents and smaller predators, such as foxes, opossums and raccoons, which naturally occur in higher densities and can quickly overpopulate areas of habitat.
FWC has tips on how to keep your pets safe from coyotes, and also a website for reporting unusual coyote behavior.
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