News

Coyote caught in downtown Salem

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
Published: April 24, 2008

SALEM — A coyote was captured yesterday across from District Court.

"This is the first I can remember" of a coyote in the downtown, said Don Famico, the city's longtime animal control officer.

The wild animal was caught around 1:30 p.m. in a parking lot on Lynde Street behind the Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor and Boston Hot Dog. Famico and Patrolman Michael Levesque cornered the animal under a car and secured it using long snare poles with loops on the ends.

"We played (tag) with him a little bit until Mike was able to loop a leg," Famico said.

The incident happened quickly but was seen by a few passers-by.

"I didn't realize it was a coyote," said Mary Shold, who was walking by with friends. "I thought it was a dog."

The animal had an injured leg and open sores and was malnourished, according to police reports.

"He had to be disposed of. ... It was definitely sick and definitely injured," Famico said. There were no reports of human contact with the coyote, according to police.

There were sightings the past few days of an animal wandering on Essex Street near the YMCA and on Federal and Lynde streets. One caller told police he thought it was an injured German shepherd and had put out food and water.

"He's been running around the downtown for the last several days," Famico said.

The first call yesterday came around 12:45 p.m. from someone who saw the animal near the rear porch of a building on Lynde Street. It fled when police approached with snare poles. Forty-five minutes later, it was caught in the same neighborhood.

Emely Arias, 18, who works at the YMCA, said she saw a coyote one night about two weeks ago as she drove down Congress Street. The animal was near Shetland Park and headed toward Pickering Wharf, she said.

"It was running, leaping down the middle of the road. ... It almost hit my car."

The coyote caught yesterday was not the first wild animal to venture into the downtown in recent years. In fact, Famico has taken a skunk out of the Museum Place Mall parking garage.

Four years ago, the downtown was abuzz with news of a deer knocking over a tourist, sending the woman to Salem Hospital with a concussion and fractured ribs. Several days later, a deer — believed to be the same deer — was hit by a car on Essex Street near the public library. It was later euthanized.