Falmouth Woman Leaves Water for Coyotes Despite Guidance Not To

In today's episode of things you definitely shouldn't do, a woman in Falmouth purposely left out a bowl of water for a pack of wild coyotes.

Jennifer Christian shared a night-vision video of the pack drinking from the bowl in a Falmouth Facebook group Tuesday morning. According to Christian, she sees the pack of seven show up on her camera every night.

"Do not want them getting in trouble looking for clean fresh water," Christian wrote. "So happy when they found it and drank. Let’s hope we get some rain SOON."

While Christian obviously meant well with her gesture of kindness, the backlash came almost immediately, with many members of the group pointing to how leaving a bowl of water out could encourage coyotes to keep coming back and potentially try to interact with humans and pets.

"They are not dogs[.] They do not need your help," Michael Defilippis Jr. wrote. "You and other people that do this are the reason why more people are getting attacked by coyotes. Do your part and leave and wild animals alone as they can defend to themselves."

Just in the past week, there have been two separate incidents of coyotes biting children out of the blue in Massachusetts. Last Wednesday, a coyote bit a child on Cape Cod National Seashore Beach in Provincetown. Park rangers later killed the animal. More recently, another coyote bit a 5-year-old child playing in an Arlington sandbox on Sunday afternoon. According to Patch, authorities are continuing to monitor the area for coyote activity.

MassWildlife also advises against making your property attractive to coyotes, in hopes of avoiding potentially dangerous interactions with the animals.

"Never deliberately provide food for coyotes to attract them to your property," MassWildlife wrote on their website. "Feeding, whether direct or indirect, can cause coyotes to act tame and may lead to bold behavior."

And it's safe to assume that leaving water out for coyotes falls under the same category as feeding them. Millbury Animal Control advises residents to "eliminate sources of water, particularly in dry climates," in order to lessen the risk of a coyote-human interaction.

Earlier this month, Christian shared more videos her cameras captured of the pack, which luckily don't show any food or water left out. They certainly are cool videos, but the moment that food and drinks are purposely left out to attract coyotes, the situation becomes much more dangerous than cool.

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