City officials in Montreal have decided it would be easier to warn citizens to desist from fraternizing with coyotes than it would be to chase the wild animals out of the city. The city has had to deal with three cases of coyote bites just the past week and according to the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough of Montreal these canines have been around us the past 40 years and attempting to drive them out of the city would only make them come back in larger numbers, as they are territorial beings who moves very quickly. In addition, the Coyotes also have a very important role in the city’s ecosystem, which involves eating up mice, rats, squirrels and groundhogs.

In a bid to curb the coyote problem, the city has set up a coyote sighting hotline and established a curfew at sun down for parks where they are coyotes , among other actions.

According to Mayor Valérie Plante, 17 coyotes have been caught in the span of a year on the island of Montreal. This number must have inspired the mayor to take to Twitter on Tuesday, to warn citizens on how to avoid the wild animals. She advised citizens to stop petting, feeding or taking pictures with the coyotes.

According to reports on Dailyhive.com, “Feeding wild animals has become too common in attempts to get closer to them in order to take pictures to post on social media. Usually, taking pictures with animal predators is not the smartest idea, regardless of how many Instagram likes one might receive.”

It’s been however announced by Projet Montreal that the city is at this time working alongside the Quebec Forest Ministry to mount traps and cameras in parks where Coyotes are prone to visit in order to ensure the safety of citizens. Until then park-goers have been advised to call the coyote spotting hotline rather than take selfies when they spot one.

It could be recalled that three children were bitten by coyotes in July in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough of Montreal. A spokesperson for the info-coyote hotline, speaking to Dailyhive.com, said the first of the attacks happened around July 22nd and two more have occurred since then involving a five-year-old boy and girl.

It is suspected that residents’ inclination to fraternize with the animals has helped worsen this problem. Posters have gone up around the Local authorities suspect that people feeding the animals has helped contribute to the problem. Posters have been placed around the neighbourhood informing citizens about the dangerous animals and asking them to desist from visiting the park after sunset.

In addition to these, citizens have been advised to teach their children not to approach Coyotes, to keep their pets on a leash when visiting the park and avoid having pets chase coyotes, keep garbage away as that attracts rodents which in turn attract the coyotes. When confronted by coyotes, citizens are advised to give the animal a chance to escape while making themselves seem as large as possible and throwing rocks at it.