The Feb. presence of a coyote understandably made neighbors edgy. Fears were stoked especially by a suspected case of predation that took the life of a family pet near Core Creek Park and Playicki Park in Middletown Township/Langhorne. Greg Vellner sniffed out the story for the Community Voice.

The carnivore may very well still be in the area but benefiting from an evolutionary instinct to remain undetected.

“It might be rumor [that] due to low or no sightings that there are no longer coyotes in Bucks County,” said Thomas Keller, a state Game Commission biologist. “That’s certainly not true. Coyotes are very adaptive and quickly learn how to live among us.”

Keller went onto say that suburban-dwelling coyotes commonly move about unnoticed, living around abandoned properties where they hunt small animals.

“One thing coyotes are very good at is staying out of our sight, operating primarily at night,” he said. “Not all folks report sightings, but we do keep track of complaints within our game warden districts.”

The Pa. coyote population steadily has risen over the past few decades and today outnumbers black bears, bobcats, and river otter, according to the Game Commission.

More on Bucks County’s current coyote situation is at the Community Voice.