Residents in a Newington neighborhood are on the lookout for a coyote after pets have gone missing.
The wild animal was seen walking up and down Barnard Drive early Sunday night.
On Monday morning, Steve DeWolf woke up to find hairballs covering his yard. His wife had heard some kind of commotion.
"She called a couple of neighbors up the street and found out several cats have been missing for several days now," DeWolf said.
John Holloway is one of the neighbors and hasn't seen his cat, Tiger, in almost a week.
"I haven't seen her in five days and I'm deadly worried something awful has happened to her," Holloway said.
Neighbors say the coyote lurks in the wood line that runs behind the homes and they blame nearby construction for his surprise appearance.
"He was smaller than a German shepherd. He was skinny and had a tail that was grayish with some white in it," Scott Brewer, a Barnard Drive resident, said.
Animal control officers say coyotes often migrate to neighborhoods because it’s easier for them to hunt.
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They are advising residents to bring small pets inside and keep them on a leash at all times.
Brewer plans to take that advice.
"Sometimes I let my dog out at night without a leash to go to the bathroom, but I think I'll start using a leash every night because he'd chase a coyote and certainly a scuffle would be the best case scenario," he said.
"We see a lot of deer and rabbits, maybe even skunks, but never a coyote," DeWolf said.
