Coyote sighting in Scio Township

Coyoto photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Reader Steven Williams writes to say that he spotted a coyote at 3:35 a.m. in the 5400 block of Jackson Road in Scio Township between Malloy Incorporated and the Jackson Business Center.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources notes that coyotes have spread throughout southern Michigan and that they are extremely adaptable to habitat where adequate food, water and cover are available. There have been other reports of coyote sightings in the area in the past decade, including on Scio Church Road near the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, in Riverwood off Newport Road, and in Maryfield-Wildwood Park.

Coyotes can be confused with medium-sized German Shepherds from a distance, says the DNR.

But once in a while, someone gets this animal really confused with something else, as in this 2007 instance reported in the Kalamazoo Gazette in which a Benzie County man shot a 1,400 pound pregnant cow, claiming he mistook it for a coyote. "My husband thought that he should go through some therapy looking at repeated pictures of cows and coyotes, because they look nothing alike," said cow owner DeAnn Mosher to the Gazette. "It didn't make any sense to me."

Approximate location of this morning's coyote sighting on Jackson Road in Scio Township.

Google Maps

Edward Vielmetti is making a note to himself to buy a blaze orange hat for his next walk in the woods. You can reach him at edwardvielmetti@annarbor.com .