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Hide your pets: Coyotes are back on the prowl in North Wildwood

Coyote sightings are yearly occurrence in the South Jersey shore town, which advised residents to keep their pets inside.

File photo of a coyote. After an alleged spotting in Wildwood, police issued a warning to residents.
File photo of a coyote. After an alleged spotting in Wildwood, police issued a warning to residents.Read moreCarolyn Cole / MCT

You’ve heard of Pizza Rat. Now get ready for the Boardwalk Slice Coyote.

NJ.com reported a coyote sighting in North Wildwood earlier this week, just in time to secure a multi-thousand dollar Shore house for the summer.

“Coyotes are opportunistic feeders,” the North Wildwood Police Department said in a Facebook post. “As a precaution, please keep your indoor/outdoor cats inside” for the next several days.

The wolf-adjacent animals are apparently annual visitors to the Jersey Shore: There were rumors of a den of coyotes shacking up behind Cape May’s Channel Apartments in 2021 and some were caught running in the night on video in 2022.

Coyotes are nocturnal, and attacks on humans are unlikely. Police advised residents to not approach the animals if spotted, since they can carry infectious (and occasionally fatal) diseases.

Other best practices for coexisting with coyotes?

  1. Never leaving trash out (since Wildwood coyotes may rifle through it for some Polish Water Ice leftovers).

  2. “Hazing” them (that’s just way of saying assert your dominance in your backyard by doing things like clanging pots or blasting “Cut the Mozzarella”).

  3. Enclosing your backyard with a fence.