CONGERS, N.Y. — Of all the coyotes that roam Dr. Davies Farm, looking for prey on this apple-picking orchard less than an hour from New York City, manager James Higgins says one of the pack stands out: Bigger and with more gray fur than its mates, this wolflike canine is a reason, Mr. Higgins says, there are fewer deer nibbling at Dr. Davies’s stock.

“We love having him here,” Mr. Higgins said as he drove around the property on an ad hoc coyote safari. There were no sightings, but Mr. Higgins ventured a profile of the creature: aloof, calm, uninterested in people.

“Anytime he sees any kind of human activity, he bolts,” Mr. Higgins said. “As long as he stays in his space and we stay in ours, everyone works in harmony.”

Image The Clarkstown Police Department posted a photograph of what they called a coywolf on Facebook last month. Credit... via Clarkstown Police Department

Not everyone shares Mr. Higgins’ fondness for this supposed hybrid predator, known by some as coywolves, which have spread from upstate to semirural New York and the New Jersey suburbs, and migrated as far into the city grid as Rikers Island and La Guardia Airport — where officials had one pack euthanized in November 2016 over the objections of animal-rights activists.