Marjory Holn had just finished running some morning errands when neighbours told her news that’s kept her holed up in her Scarborough home, fearing the worst.

A “sick-looking” coyote has been spotted around Larwood Blvd. near the Scarborough Bluffs in the past week, and residents say their efforts to have it taken care of seem to be caught in a bureaucratic tangle.

“I can’t get out of here,” Holn told the Star, after her neighbours escorted her home as the animal lay on her lawn, scratching itself. Holn is elderly and has trouble with her vision.

“I don’t know what it’s going to do. It could probably attack me.”

Holn says she alerted police Friday morning. Police confirmed they received calls, but referred the matter to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The ministry, whose tag the coyote was wearing, says the animal was part of a study looking at coyote population dynamics in urban areas. Ministry officials say they are unsure how the animal got to the neighbourhood, but hope to “chemically immobilize” it and place it in the care of the Toronto Wildlife Centre this week.

In an email to the Star, the centre’s executive director said “considerable time and resources” have been spent trying to capture the coyote.

“Our rescue team tried again this weekend, spending four hours tracking the sick animal before losing sight of him,” said Nathalie Karvonen. “Coyotes are notoriously hard to catch; they are smart and very wary of people’s actions around them.”

Despite resident fears, Karvonen said the animals are not known to attack, because they are “terribly afraid of people.”

She confirmed that the “animal is suffering terribly and may die if not captured and treated soon” because it has a severe case of mange, a skin disease that causes itching, fur loss and the formation of scabs.

Residents such as Gloria Llewellyn, who first spotted the animal on Sept. 8 around 9 a.m., say they are concerned for its well-being because it has been seen looking ill, wandering slowly and resting for prolonged periods.

“I thought someone would have already come because I think he needs to be caught,” she says. “There might be something wrong with him and may be may need to be treated or put down.”

Mary Lou Leiher, Toronto Animal Services program manager, says city staff have looked at the animal, but have not confirmed whether it is sick.

“If it was sick enough to be captured, we would, but it sounds like it isn’t sick enough to pick up.”

The animal’s presence along the quiet, suburban street has triggered plenty of alarm, Holn says.

“We have lots of deer, but they don’t do anything. You never see a coyote lying on the street or the lawn,” she says. “There’s nearby schools and kids may think it’s a dog they can pet.”

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Leiher says coyotes tend to be “elusive” and have only ever bitten one person in Toronto, but “sometimes they become less afraid and hang around houses.”

She urges anyone who sees the coyote to avoid feeding or agitating it.