Michael Strilchuk and his dog Stella had an unwanted encounter with coyotes in a greenspace between the communities of Panorama Hills and Hanson Ranch on Tuesday morning in an area that was closed to the public last year to prevent confrontations with wildlife.

“As I was walking, there was one coyote that came rushing behind me, stopped about 30 or 40 feet away,” said Strilchuk of the confrontation near the Country Hills Gold Club that occurred at around 9:30 a.m. “Stella started barking and whining to warn me. Then, out of the blue, another one came up with its teeth showing and gnarling and grabbed her tail.”

“They went into a little bit of a tussle. I was yelling at it and it didn’t care to move away. We were trying to run away and it kept coming at us. Nipped at my heels, kept nipping at Stella.”

Stella was bit by one of the wild animals but Strilchuk was unharmed. The coyotes pursued the dog and owner until they reached a street.

Strilchuk, who has lived in the neighbouring community for nearly 18 years, says coyote sightings have been commonplace in the area but Tuesday’s incident was his first encounter with aggressive coyotes.

“These two particular coyotes aren’t afraid of humans,” said Strilchuk. “Somebody is going to get hurt or another dog is going to get hurt.”

“I think it’s time to take a look at these two and relocate them somewhere else.”

Barbara Debeni’s home backs onto the greenspace and she says word of the aggressive animals has made its way through the community. “Nobody goes by, hardly, and the ones that do, you have to come to come out and warn them because the coyotes have gotten so bad that they will chase people, bite people, take after dogs,” said Debeni. “We can’t use this space anymore.”

Chris Manderson, an urban conservation lead with Calgary Parks, says the City has adopted a more active approach to its handling of coyotes.

“We learned a few things from our experience last year,” said Manderson. “One of them was that the City did need to step in and address a bit of a void in terms of how coyotes are managed. It’s typically a provincial and municipal issue and we clarified that when it comes to coyotes, the City is probably the first number you should call.”

Manderson says the City is exploring methods to remove attractants, including food sources, and reinstate fear in animals that have become unfazed by humans.

“It’s not practical to completely eliminate coyotes from the city. They are very well adapted to urban life and we cannot effectively eliminate them. We’re looking at ways to at least reduce the conflict.”

In 2017, the City received approximately 800 complaints regarding coyotes, a relatively average number when compared to recent years. Manderson encourages anyone who encounters a coyote to call 311 to help the City monitor coyote activity.

With files from CTV’s Brad MacLeod.