‘Dawn of a new creature’: after a vicious attack, a city ponders living with coyotes

Dallas is home to several packs of coyotes, which can become unusually comfortable with neighbors - and on 3 May, one dragged a toddler off a porch

Even before a two-year-old was snatched from a Dallas porch by a hungry coyote, the parents in the neighborhood knew something terrible was bound to happen.

The coyotes that usually stayed in wooded areas or a nearby creekbed had been coming closer and closer. One was spotted by a doorbell camera stealing a food delivery bag off a porch. Another was seen following children on their walk to school. Another stood on an elementary school playground with a squirrel in its mouth.