Coyote on the Prowl?

Debunking the rumors regarding Marist’s “coyote problem”. 

Concerns about coyote sightings rise at Marist, an image of a young coyote sitting on a rock. Source: Spykerf1 on Pixabay

“Coyote versus fox”: this is the message written on dozens of dorm bulletin boards and social media posts. The phrase relates to the coyotes seen throughout campus within the past few weeks, following an incident in which one bit a student, seemingly unprovoked.

Overnight, memes and rumors spread all over Marist College’s campus about the “coyote problem,” with the idea that the coyotes and foxes should battle it out for mascot, since coyotes seem to be over-represented on campus - but is that truly the case?

According to John Blaisdell, the Director of Safety and Security, the incident all started the morning of Tuesday the 7th, when a male student was exiting Leo Hall, turned left and felt as though he had been bitten on his left leg.

“He turned around and an animal that he believed to be a coyote had pinned him; it got the skin,” Blaisdell recounts. “We sent officers over there and he went to the hospital, where they treated him and released him a few hours later.” The student recovered quickly and is confirmed to be completely fine.

Shortly after, a photograph was taken of the coyote from an anonymous source, and spread throughout social media, from Yik Yak, to Snapchat to Instagram, leading to a campus-wide panic, which many have started to criticize, claiming that there are no more coyotes than there were in the past years. 

Blaisdell agrees with this sentiment. When asked about the question of how many coyotes have been found on campus recently, he stresses that, “We see all kinds of animals here.” Up in Poughkeepsie, the threat of wild animals is existent but not at all new, and so while students should be cautious while walking outside at night, they should not panic. 

Signs around campus warning about rabies have been put up as well for the issue of protocol from the Dutchess County Department of Health. This is because there have been 3 similar incidents to the coyote bite within the last six months, and although there is no proof of rabies, it must be taken into consideration. 

So, the best thing to do right now is to keep calm. Be cautious while walking alone at night around campus, and if you see a wild animal, ignore it and walk away quietly, for according to Blaisdell, “It probably knew that you have been there much longer than you have known it’s been there.” Similarly, wildlife on Marist’s campus has existed far longer than this incident has, so right now it is best to keep calm and continue remaining cautious.