FRISCO — When her husband got a promotion at his company in London, Sunita Kurup and her family had to choose where to move: Chicago or Texas.

After renting for a year in Plano, they bought a home in Frisco, drawn by its schools and newly built neighborhoods.

“It seemed safe,” Kurup said. “It felt like home.”

That was before the string of violent coyote attacks just a few blocks away.

Now she won’t let her kids play outside without supervision. She doesn’t leave trash out overnight like she used to, and she always checks her front door’s security camera for coyotes before grabbing packages off the porch.

“I’m super scared,” she said.

1 / 2One of the areas in which a coyote was seen, at the northeast intersection of Preston Road and Eldorado Parkway in Frisco, Texas on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 2 / 2The recent string of attacks by coyotes in Frisco has drawn the attention of national wildlife experts. An urban biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says the local incidents are anomalies.(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

Since late October, Frisco residents have reported a number of attacks by coyotes — unusual behavior by the canine predators, which rarely interact with humans.

Twice, passing drivers stopped a coyote from stalking joggers along Eldorado Parkway. Then, aggressive coyotes bit a woman on the neck and scratched a 9-year-old child. In December, two other women were attacked while jogging and a coyote bit a dog walking through its neighborhood.

The city of Frisco has captured and euthanized an unspecified number of coyotes in the area, saying that none tested positive for rabies. Last week, the city launched an online system where citizens can report and view coyote sightings.

"You look at the map and you'll see how normal it is to see a coyote," said Steven Lerner, animal services supervisor with the Frisco Police Department. "They live here. They're good for the environment. People are going to see them."

Violent encounters rare

Coyotes living nearby is nothing new. The recent attacks in Frisco, however, are unusual.

Sam Kieschnick, an urban biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said the attacks have received national attention from experts wondering what happened here.

“Those are anomalies,” Kieschnick said.

There have been only two confirmed fatal coyote attacks in the United States and Canada: one in California in 1981, the other in Nova Scotia in 2009.

Urban coyotes thrive all over the country and only rarely are aggressive toward humans. Coyote populations are particularly healthy in North Texas. You can spot the animals in posh Dallas neighborhoods, along the shoulder of the region's interstate highways, and among the growing subdivisions of Collin County.

“When we see urban wildlife, it’s a normal thing,” Kieschnick said. “Coyotes are present.”

Yet when rapid development transforms wild spaces into human homes, wildlife must die off, move away or adapt their behaviors, Kieschnick said. That often leads to conflicts between native critters and their new neighbors.

“The wildlife that was using that [space] as a refuge, they have to shift,” he said. “There’s not really a happily ever after.”

Living with coyotes

Clare Nixon has lived in Frisco for 14 years and works in the clinic at Heritage High School, home of the Coyotes and just down Eldorado Parkway from the scene of recent sightings.

She’s used to seeing wildlife in her neighborhood. She’s seen coyotes around, but never aggressive ones.

“They’re beautiful creatures,” she said.

While Frisco's Heritage High School is "home of the Coyotes," the city itself is also home to the real deal. In Frisco and other rapidly growing urban areas, animals are suddenly competing with people for habitat space, leading to occasional conflicts. (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

Nixon normally has no problem letting her 13-year-old son walk home from Stanley Middle School. But when the news of attacks started coming in, she changed her work schedule to pick him up from school.

“I’ve been here long enough to know that’s not normal,” she said. “I feel bad because Frisco is exploding, and this was their [coyotes'] home first.”

Some Frisco residents blame recent construction of an apartment complex for disrupting the local coyote habitat, forcing the animals into the open. But Kieschnick said it’s more complicated than that. Rapid development may concentrate coyote populations in certain areas, but that doesn't account for the aggressiveness of the coyotes in Frisco.

Although the coyotes captured tested negative for rabies, Kieschnick said one or more that attacked people were potentially "unhealthy." He said the state wildlife department advised "lethal removal" of coyotes that matched the description of the aggressive animals in the area of the attacks.

Coyote sightings peak in late fall, when bare foliage makes it easier to see through brush, and in early spring, when mating season begins. Sightings are usually brief. Normally, coyotes don't want to be seen.

"We want them to be afraid of us," the police department's Lerner said. "It's better for them, and it's better for us."

Reporting Coyote Sightings Report coyote sightings through a new, interactive map at friscotexas.gov/coyote. Frisco Animal Services will use the information to identify coyote territories, travel patterns and places where unusually aggressive animals have been spotted. Remember, emergencies should always be reported to 911. Posted by City of Frisco TX - City Hall on Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Lerner said the city already is learning much about where and when coyotes are spotted through the city's new reporting map. Anecdotally, he said, coyote sightings have peaked on trash day, for example. Trash bins on the curb make for easy pickings for opportunistic coyotes. Common advice is to not leave trash out overnight, and now Lerner has data to back it up.

"It seems small, but those things can make a difference," he said.

Frisco police Officer Grant Cottingham said years ago, the department would field calls about potential animals in distress. Most of the time, the caller was just hearing coyotes yipping nearby.

With Frisco's rapid growth, he said, the public education part of the job is constant. Newcomers to Collin County may not have interacted with coyotes or other North Texas critters before.

"We want them to feel safe as anywhere else," Cottingham said, adding that "99.5 percent of the encounters they have with wild coyotes or any other wildlife in Frisco is going to be a non-event. It's a very insignificant number that makes a significant impact on how people view urban wildlife."

Sign of the wild

Despite the coyote captures, Kurup still watches her back when going outside to check for mail or perform other tasks, like taking down Christmas decorations in the front of her house.

She hasn’t had any interactions with aggressive coyotes but has seen a few from the safety of her car. That alone is nerve-wracking, she said.

“We’re not used to having animals where we live,” Kurup said. “It’s kind of scary. It feels like a hostage situation when you can’t go out.”

Kieschnick sees the wild interactions differently.

Urban wildlife — coyotes, bobcats, birds — is evidence of the region’s natural biodiversity. No matter how much human populations in North Texas grow, he said, spotting coyotes is a reminder of our natural environment.

“When I see coyotes, I get excited,” he said. “Wow, that’s something that’s a remnant of the wild.”

Tips for living with urban coyotes