“Today, July 16, at 10:45 a.m., I spotted a large coyote standing in our backyard. When he noticed me, he trotted across our yard and then up into some bushes between our house and the neighbors.

“Our house is on the water, between the Wilmerding house and the ferry. It’s the second house on the left as you enter Silver Eel Cove on the ferry (next to the house with the pool).”

Coyotes were first reported in Connecticut in the 1950s, but their numbers began to swell in the 1980s and early 1990s. Rarely on display, coyotes are highly intelligent, agile, astute hunters, and excellent swimmers.

Leslie Conant Photos and Reporting