Never underestimate a coyote.

Over the last century, these intelligent, highly adaptive omnivores have managed to flourish across the United States and in each Canadian province. But their expansion into urban areas has presented a dilemma: How can humans and coyotes coexist peacefully?

Montreal is the latest city to grapple with coyotes that have attacked pets and people. This week it introduced a new “hazing” policy modeled after the one used in Denver. It aims to teach coyotes to fear humans again, while also training residents how to adapt their own behavior and discourage coyotes from approaching.

Since July 2017, there have been 1,000 coyote sightings in Montreal and 19 people have been bitten, including three children this summer, Émilie Thuillier, the mayor of Montreal’s Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, said in an interview on Wednesday.

In each of the 19 cases, the wounds were minor, but still alarming to the city’s residents. In July, a petition accused city officials of doing little to fix the problem, CBC reported.