Residents of a northwest neighbourhood say a number of recent encounters with brazen coyotes have them concerned about the possibility of an attack.

Maureen Morrison, a mother of four including seven-year-old triplets, says coyotes are not an unusual sight in Edgemont, given the community’s proximity to Nose Hill Park, but a mating pair appears to have moved in next door to her family’s home.

“I saw the coyote for the first time about two-and-a-half weeks ago,” said Morrison. ““A few days after that, my neighbour caught the male and female mating right behind my next door neighbour’s house.”

The Morrisons have seen the animals emerge from under the deck of the house next to theirs and there are numerous sets of tracks in the area. “They’re keeping to themselves right now but we are concerned about them starting to get aggressive with protecting their territory.”

According to Morrison, the property where the coyotes appear to be denning belongs to a woman who is seldom home and more than 10 complaints have been filed with the City of Calgary 311 about the wild animals from concerned neighbours. Morrison says the coyotes appear fearless.

“They are not fazed at all by humans or cars for that matter,” said Morrison. “My neighbour across the street was shoveling her driveway after that snowfall last week and there was a coyote that came out and basically was just watching her.”

Morrison says there are roughly 20 children who live within a block of the coyotes’ makeshift den and there is an elementary school a short distance away.

“I don’t want (the coyotes) under the neighbour’s deck. I want them away from the kids,” said Morrison. “I don’t want the coyotes harmed. I just want them moved away especially before they have the pups.”

Chris Manderson, an urban conservation lead with Calgary Parks, says the City of Calgary does not have direct jurisdiction over wildlife but the City will work with the property owner to help make the area less inviting for the coyotes.

“We, as the City of Calgary, cannot enter the property without permission and, in fact, we do not do coyote control or pest control on private property,” said Manderson. “What we absolutely can do is provide some advice. We work with some animal control companies that could probably help them out and hopefully find a way to encourage that animal to move on.”

“When the pups are born, when they get a little bit older, we would probably expect to see some territorial or some defensive behaviour by the parents and that’s when we start to see conflict. Our hope would be to avoid that.”

While the specific number of coyotes in Calgary has not been confirmed, Manderson says there is a healthy population that speaks to the animal’s ability to adapt to urban environments.

“The best thing we can do is think about coexistence. In a situation like this, you really want to look at what’s attracting them to a specific place.” Manderson says restricting access to potential denning habitats and removing food sources, including crabapples, would make a property less attractive to coyotes.

Anyone who spots a coyote within Calgary is encouraged to report the sighting to Calgary 311 as the City continues to compile information regarding coyote activity in an effort to reduce conflicts.

With files from CTV's Bill Macfarlane