Pack Of Coyotes In Rochester Hills Terrifies Local Couple

DETROIT (WWJ) Susan Demres DeCaussin went out for a bike ride Tuesday night near her home, and came back with a story she won't soon forget.

She describes it this way:

"While out bike riding on the Clinton River Trail by our home, as it was getting dark, we heard a loud roar of noise that brought us and several other people to a standstill. It took probably 20 seconds before we realized that a screaming fire truck siren had caused a very large pack of coyotes to start howling and yapping.

"It was so loud that we had to raise our voices to hear each other, as we were standing together at a dead stop on the trail. Had to be over 20 of them, from the sound of it. A split second after we realized what it was, and how close they were, we high tailed it out of the area. I've seen and heard coyotes many times before, but never have I experienced anything as hair raising as this."

Suffice it to say, she won't go back out there at dusk anytime soon.

Lance Devoe, a naturalist with the city of Rochester Hills, said the population of coyotes in his city is large, and it's easy to mistake the sound of five or six for the sound of many more.

"That would be a little our of the ordinary, coyotes don't typically form packs or large groups like that, I'm thinking what they probably heard was a family unit, they do occasionally mate for life and you can get a maited pair with offspring, five or six, who are a family group, but I've never heard of 20 coyotes at one time," he said.

So what do to if you encounter a big group of coyotes? Don't worry, Devoe said.

"My only concern would be, and what we tell residents on a regular basis, if you have small pets, to accompany them at night if they have to be let out. Coyotes are nocturnal and they do their hunting at night ... They're afraid of humans. We tell them to make loud noises, wave and yell at them ... They're not really interested (in humans), not really something people need to be afraid of."