Coyotes, bears and bobcats are traveling from wide swaths of deep forest along the Massachusetts and Connecticut borders to the Rhode Island suburbs. Larger than their puny western counterparts, the eastern coyote is brazenly walking down busy streets, lounging in back yards and rummaging through the trash.

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island is where the wild things are.

Coyotes, bears and bobcats are traveling from wide swaths of deep forest along the Massachusetts and Connecticut borders to the Rhode Island suburbs. Larger than their puny western counterparts, the eastern coyote is brazenly walking down busy streets, lounging in back yards and rummaging through the trash.

Black bears, emerging from hibernation, have been seen recently in rural areas of Kent and Washington counties.

And bobcats, elusive creatures that shun human contact, are making the occasional back yard appearance.

While wildlife experts are tickled with the re-emergence of large mammals, their return is a bit more fraught for homeowners who fear that their cats may go missing.

Coyotes have adapted nicely to foraging at the edges of suburban cul-de-sacs. They eat anything, from road kill to small pets. And they have become increasingly unperturbed by the presence of humans.

Christina Wall, who lives in the Narragansett Terrace neighborhood of East Providence, has had several chilling encounters with a female coyote and her pup.

A month ago, she spotted a coyote in her back yard late at night. Her yellow lab, Lexie, went after it. Minutes later, Lexie returned with two deep gashes on her legs. Now her dog is afraid to go for walks at night.

Last week, a coyote shadowed Wall as she was out walking. It was big, the size of a German shepherd. Lexie ran home. Wall grabbed a big bag of trash and shook it. The coyote kept following her.

"They're everywhere on the Terrace," she said. "At night, they hoot and holler whenever they get a kill. I don't like them but ... where should they go?"

Charlie Brown, a wildlife biologist with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, said there are several reasons why wild animals are returning to Rhode Island.

"We've gone from a primarily agricultural landscape to forests," he said. "We have more forest today than we did 100 years ago."

There are now unbroken strands of forest stretching from eastern Connecticut and central Massachusetts into Rhode Island. These protected habitats create a green highway for animals to roam.

Bears and bobcat prefer a dense forest, according to Scott Ruhren, senior director of conservation with the Audubon Society, so as Rhode Island becomes more forested, residents will begin seeing more of these larger mammals.

But there's another reason why the wild things are rebounding. Humans are no longer permitted to hunt them.

"We went from several centuries of unregulated persecution to more awareness," Brown said. The early 1900s saw the creation of state agencies to regulate and protect wildlife and the implementation of modern game laws.

The coyotes are the exception to the rule. They never were indigenous to the Northeast. Their preferred habitat is the open prairie.

"We cut down the forest and created a situation where they were able to travel," Brown said. "They extended their range eastward."

During their movement east, they interbred with wolves, which is why the eastern coyote is so much bigger than its western cousin.

"They are very adaptable," Brown said. "They take advantage of food that we as people eat. They are able to survive in our urbanized landscape."

Black bears are also making a comeback, with recent sightings in North Smithfield. Spring is the time of year when momma bears kick their 14-month-old male cubs to the curb. The cubs take off, traveling 150 miles from home in search of territory to call their own.

Although sightings of bobcats are uncommon, they never entirely disappeared from Rhode Island and no one knows exactly why they are on the rise. Perhaps the landscape has changed in their favor. Perhaps there is a better source of food. Rabbits are their specialty and anecdotal reports indicate their numbers are growing.

Darin Kochan, 43, who lives in the rural Touisset section of Warren, said coyotes have become a nuisance, pilfering his trash and harassing his dogs. Three months ago, his hunting dog was growling. Kochan saw two coyotes pressed against a small hole in his stockade fence. They were trying to get at his dog and his dog was trying to get at them.

"I've lived in Warren for five years and we went from no coyotes to little coyotes," he said. "I saw some the other day as big as my dogs. They looked like wolves. I said to myself, 'That ain't no normal-sized coyote.' "

Last fall, Kochan was driving his truck when he saw a coyote trotting down the middle of the street. Kochan honked his horn.

"That thing turned around," he said, "and continued strutting down the middle of the road."

—lborg@providencejournal.com

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